“Development at Any Cost?”– Post on Brazil In Focus

This editorial was written by Sergio Abranches for Brazil In Focus and provides a brief overview of how Brazil’s environmental prospects are being compromised by short-termism and a government that easily succumbs to powerful lobbies:

Brazil sacrifices the enviroment on the altar of growth

A year ago presidential hopeful Dilma Rousseff went on record as a strong defender of the environment. On the campaign trail, she said she opposed the pardoning of scofflaws for past crimes against the environment. At the same time she spoke forcefully about the need to conciliate preservation with the imperative of feeding a hungry nation. But what has been the Rousseff government’s track record? Sergio Abranches weighs in.

by Sergio Abranches
The Brazilian government facilitates economic activity with scant regard for the environment. Brasília’s decisions on energy and on managing conservation areas, plus its negligence in discussions of the Forest Code, demonstrate that public policy flouts global concerns over climate change and irremediable environmental damage.

Go to Brazil in Focus to read more…