Fed pulls out of trade talks with Brazil over Amazon deforestation

Between January and the end of July, the area burned almost twice as much as Prince Edward Island, and recent reports continued this trend even in August.

Both France and Germany have halted further movement to ratify Europe’s free trade agreement with the Mercosur alliance, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Rekia Fick, Greenpeace Canada’s campaign manager, said Canada should also withdraw from trade talks with Mercosur.

“The government will not retaliate for the destruction of the Amazon,” she said. “It is not possible to open the market to products that cause devastating Amazon fires and ongoing deforestation and destruction and is responsible for climate change.”

Agreement ‘must be abandoned’

A year ago, Canada stated that diversifying its trade partners was critical and that any agreement would include environmental protection.

Ottawa began exploring negotiations with the Mercosur Alliance in 2017 and formal negotiations began a year later. Six rounds of talks were held between March 2018 and June 2019, but no talks have taken place since then, International Commerce Minister Mary Ng Press Secretary Ryan Niring said.

“Canada is strongly committed to the principle that trade liberalization and environmental protection must work together,” he said in a written statement.

“We recognize that the health of the forests in this region is of paramount importance to the well-being of the planet and we want an ambitious, comprehensive and enforceable environmental chapter in the free-trade agreement with Mercosur.”

Fick said Canada could not pursue the deal and could not claim to be a climate leader.

“In these circumstances, having certain terms or words just doesn’t reduce it,” she says. “The trade agreement is fundamentally flawed and should be abandoned. It should be stopped publicly with a clear message on why.”

Meat exports to Canada could increase

Brazil is the largest beef exporter in the world, although meat exports to Canada are limited. In 2018, about 30 million beef was imported from Brazil to Canada, more than $ 3 billion worth of beef exported from Brazil to China.

However, in July, Brazil’s agricultural and livestock federation said in a free-trade agreement with Canada that meat exports to Canada could grow to more than $ 1.8 billion.

Clearing the forest to make way for more pastures has resulted in the destruction of much of the cattle ranch. Many fires are thought to have been started illegally by ranchers to clear even more land.

And Brazilian President Zaire Bolsonaro Deployed military To stop the fires, the forest continues to burn at the rate of two or three football fields every minute. Bolsonaro was elected on the promise of moving forward with Amazon’s rapid development. He put forward plans to add bridges, roads, dams, mines and logging activities.

The Amazon rainforest is one of the most complex habitats in the world, producing one-fifth of the world’s oxygen and storing carbon dioxide, which contributes to a massive increase in global warming.

Greenpeace said on Saturday that it would spend World Day to protect the rainforests, urging them to reach out to multiple Canadian leaders and move away from further trade with Brazil.

“What’s happening in Brazil is on a crisis level and what’s happening in Amazon has global implications,” she said. “The necessity and scale of this trade deal, what the negative impact will be, is particularly striking.”