Brazil's new foreign minister believes climate change is a
Marxist plot
Ernesto Araújo has called climate science ‘dogma’ and
bemoaned the ‘criminalisation’ of red meat, oil and heterosexual sex
Jonathan Watts Global environment editor
Thu 15 Nov 2018 17.13 GMT Last modified on Fri 16 Nov 2018
03.32 GMT
Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro has chosen a new
foreign minister who believes climate change is part of a plot by “cultural
Marxists” to stifle western economies and promote the growth of China.
Ernesto Araújo – until recently a mid-ranking official who
blogs about the “criminalisation” of red meat, oil and heterosexual sex – will
become the top diplomat of South America’s biggest nation, representing 200
million people and the greatest and most biodiverse forest on Earth, the
Amazon.
His appointment, confirmed by Bolsonaro on Wednesday, is
likely to send a chill through the global climate movement.
Brazil was where the international community first came
together in 1992 to discuss reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Its
diplomats have played a crucial role in bridging the gap between rich and poor
nations, particularly during the forging of the Paris agreement in 2015.
But when the new government takes power in January, the
foreign ministry that leads that work will be headed by a man who claims climate
science is merely “dogma”.
In his blog, Araújo states his goal is to “help Brazil and
the world liberate themselves from globalist ideology”, which he sees as
anti-Christian.
The 51-year-old diplomat – who has never served as an
overseas ambassador – claims unnamed leftist politicians have hijacked
environmentalism to serve as a tool for global domination.
“This dogma has been used to justify increasing the
regulatory power of states over the economy and the power of international
institutions on the nation states and their populations, as well as to stifle
economic growth in democratic capitalist countries and to promote the growth of
China,” he wrote in a post last month.
In another, he claimed the centre-left Workers party in
Brazil was “criminalising sex and reproduction, saying that all heterosexual
intercourse is rape and every baby is a risk to the planet as it will increase
carbon emissions”. He then went on to accuse the party of criminalising red
meat, oil, air conditioners and Disney movies.
The incendiary rhetoric echoes that of Bolsonaro, who won
last month’s presidential election with about 57.7m votes. The former army
captain has since moved to put in place one of the world’s most far-right
administrations and promised to align Brazil more closely to Trump and the US.
Climate negotiation experts said the appointment was sad for
Brazil and the world – though they held out hope that the new foreign minister
will be more pragmatic when he comes to represent his country.
“Brazil has played a very significant role for the Paris
agreement. It would be really bad for the country’s image if he brings with him
his ideology,” said Carlos Rittl, the executive secretary of the Brazilian
Climate Observatory.
He said climate was the one area where Brazil could proudly
boast to be a global leader, and urged the new foreign minister and president
not to isolate the country in this field.
“Bolsonaro is not Trump. Brazil is not the United States. We
don’t have the same cards,” he said. “If Brazil becomes a pariah on the global
climate agenda, it would be extremely bad for our business, especially agribusiness.
When they go to Europe to negotiate a deal, climate safeguards will be on the
table. ”
The risk of losing soya and beef sales in Europe is thought
to be why Bolsonaro has backtracked on threats to quit the Paris agreement and
merge the agriculture and environment ministries.
But he remains intent on opening up the Amazon to the
farmers, miners and construction companies that supported his campaign.
His pick as agriculture minister is the head of the farming
lobby, Tereza Cristina Dias, who conservationists have nicknamed the “Muse of
Poison” due to her enthusiastic support for relaxing controls on agro-toxins.
She and her colleagues are said to be gutting the
responsibilities of the environment ministry before its new head is appointed.
The environment institution is likely to be so subservient that insiders joke
there will soon be two agriculture ministries in Brazil.
The slim hope now for climate advocates is that the powerful
agribusiness lobby will come to realise that the rain for their crops depends
on a healthy Amazon and stable global environment. More than 80% of Brazil’s
municipalities have experienced drought in the past five years, which
scientists have linked to deforestation.
But loggers are not waiting. The latest deforestation
figures showed a sharp rise in deforestation during the election campaign,
suggesting protections for nature and indigenous land are already weakening.
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