The New Forest Law in Brazil: challenges and opportunities. André Lima - Legal and Policy Advisor May, 29th, 2013

Transcription

1 The New Forest Law in Brazil: challenges and opportunities André Lima - Legal and Policy Advisor May, 29th, 2013

2 topics 1 Context 2 Changes in forest law 3 Amnesty as a potencial perverse incentive 4 Main current threats 5 Challenges & Opportunities

3 Context - 1 st decade of % of Brazilian total CO2 emissions came from deforestation and forest degradation. 30 million hectares of deforestation in the 90 s. 20% of Amazon forest. - From 2003 to 2012 Brazil reduced almost 85% of total deforestation in Amazon Forest - +/- 650 Mt CO2eq emissions reduced in this period. - How we did it? - Basically public policies of command and control.

4 Phases of the control of deforestation in Amazonia 1 - red - Before PPCDAm (average rate 20,000km2/year) 2 - green - 1 st phase PPCDAm (17,000/year <15%) 3 - blue/grey - 2o phase PPCDAm (6,400/year - <68%) 4 - New Forest Law Phase (2012/13 - > 90%)

5 Context National Plan to Controll Amazon Deforestation (PPCDam) designed by federal government with the participation of civil society: creation of almost 30 millions hectares of protected areas (parks, reserves and indigenous lands); the real-time deforestation monitoring system (DETER), the strong support of Federal Police and Army; cut public credits for land owners that illegally deforested in Amazon, (US$1bi)

6 Context Since 2009 Ruralists representatives in the national congress starts a strong pressure to weak/relax the Forest Code. They are about 250 representatives from a total of 595 congressmen. The new law was passed by the Congress and came into force in May 2012.

7 Brazilian trading balance

8 The Forest law tools The change affected two important legal tools for biodiversity conservation forest legal reserves at rural properties: percentage of each farm in which the forest must be protected, can be managed or reforested. 80% of it in Amazonian farms and 20% in farms located in other biomes. permanent preservation areas (with native vegetation) along riparian forests, on top of hills, mangroves, mountains and around springs that must be preserved or recovered.

9 Small farm in compliance with the old law

10 What did change in the forest law? The old Law defined that all illegal deforestation must be recovered, besides the payment of fines and the criminal process. The new law granted amnesty for all illegal deforestation previous to July 2008 in small farms. Reduction of for more than 80% of all APP illegally deforested before this date. This amnesty which seems to be a good proposal, because benefits small farmers, without economic incentives to whom is incompliance with the law can become a perverse incentive to promote more illegal deforestation.

11 Incentive to deforestation -About 2,000 rural settlements in Amazonia (35MIha) 20MI ha of forests - More than 600,000 small family farmers spread around Amazonia

12 Amnesty as a potencial perverse incentive who acted illegally will be able to continue using the opened area. the government didn t do anything (yet) to benefit who has protected it s forest. They cannot open new areas. the feeling of impunity is widespread whoever complied with the law is feeling betrayed Where are the incentives to whom preserve it s forests?

13 Further threats beyond the new law New Law is passing at Congress to allow sugar cane plantation in Amazon. Local or state environmental agencies are vulnerable, weak, dominated by agricultural sector or even almost nonexistent in some Amazon regions. Political pressure to stop the creation of new protected areas and indigenous land, or even to reduce some of those. WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES TO OVERCOME THIS NEGATIVE CONTEXT?

14 Economic & Ecological Challenges & Opportunity Strengthen the Amazon Fund by promoting direct performance-based finance transferences to states and local governments and communities (small farmers, indigenous people, traditional communities. Promote sustainable forest management at large scale in Amazon eliminate bureaucracy, provide adequate finance incentives and promoting capacity building to local communities and environmental state and local agencies.

15 Economic & Ecological Challenges & Opportunity Tax Incentives in large scale for preservation, sustainable forest management and forest recovering, National and States REDD+ Programs to forest people (indigenous and traditional community) and small family farmers who are in compliance with the law, providing technical assistance to increase productivity and payment for environmental services.

16 Economic & Ecological Challenges & Opportunity Brazilian Carbon Trade Scheme (Cap&Trade) - provided in the Climate Change Act (art12) and the new forest law. Approval Bill for Payment for Environmental Services that is under discussion at the National Congress since 2007.

17 Thus The new forest law will require the development of a robust system of economic incentives to better use forest and compensate who protect forest in private properties and protected areas. Otherwise it will be impossible to achieve the zero net deforestation and the Aichi targets related to the conservation/restoration of ecosystems by Much work ahead in Brazil!

18 André Lima