GREEN GROWTH: FROM RELIGION TO REALITY - Sustainia

Chapter 8nally, the Amazonian states of Acre and Amazonas havesought to create markets for sustainably produced forestproducts, and Amazonas has enacted a program to paysmallholders monthly stipends not to deforest (Viana2009; 2010, 38-42).18Conflicts between those who favor development at anycost and those who support conservation and sustainabledevelopment continue, but the programs described above(and in greater depth in Appendix 1) indicate that Brazilis becoming serious about reducing GHG emissions fromdeforestation, and about protecting biodiversity.3.4 Enhancing ranching and agricultural productivityThe alternative to expanding agriculture into new areasis to do more with existing areas. Thus, while federaland state initiatives have helped to reduce deforestation,meeting Brazil’s National Climate Change Plan target ofzero deforestation by 2040 while maintaining the country’sstature as an agro-industrial powerhouse will requirefurther investments in enhancing the productivity of agricultureand ranching. Subsidized credit for inputs suchas machinery and fertilizer have increased productivityin both industries: Some older ranches on the Amazonfrontier have managed to increase their beef productionper hectare (Margulis 2004), and, as figures 2 and 3 show,though the area in the Center-West Cerrado devoted tosoybean production continues to grow, soybean productivityhas also increased steadily from 1,452 kg/hectare in1976 to 3,135 kg/hectare in 2010. A combination of advancesin farming techniques that enabled soybean farmingin the Cerrado in the 1980s, and the fertile virgin soilof that region and the Amazon have contributed to this(Luna and Klein 2006, 120).Increasing cattle and soy productivity is to be celebratedfor its potential to reduce ranchers’ and farmers’dependence on deforestation for expansion, but it is notsufficient to render ranching and farming “green” in themedium run. Indeed, continued increases in productivityand profits in these industries may place stronger pressureson state and federal governments to loosen forestconservation laws.19 Continued government investmentin improving law enforcement in the Amazon region andthe effective implementation of Brazil’s policies to reducedeforestation are necessary to ensure that these sectors’productivity increases do, indeed, lead to reductions inGHG emissions from deforestation.Finally, domestic and international consumers couldhelp to ensure that environmental laws are enforced bydemanding that beef and soybeans be produced sustainably.Some efforts have already begun: “A large Swedishgrocery store chain” (Nepstad et al. 2006, 1600) hasdemanded that Brazilian soybeans meet environmentalcriteria, the U.K.’s National Beef Association called for aboycott of Brazilian beef (ibid.), and international NGOs,producers, and consumers imposed a “soy moratorium”for three years on Brazilian soybeans, from 2006 to 2009(Greenpeace 17 June 2008). In addition, domestic beefretailers in Brazil, such as the supermarket chains Carrefourand Pão de Açúcar, and the meat processors Friboiand Bertim, are seeking to sell beef “produced on ranchesthat obey environmental legislation and use good landmanagementtechniques” (Nepstad et al. 2006, 1600).More effort is needed on this front to promote environmentalsustainability in the beef and soybean industries.In their current states, the agriculture and ranchingindustries present Brazil with a real dilemma between“green” and “growth.” Solving this problem – and achievinggreen growth – means finding a way to decouplegrowth in these industries from rising emissions. Withoutsignificant progress in increasing the productivity ofcattle ranching and soybean farming, enforcing environmentallaws, implementing anti-deforestation policiesresponsibly, and cultivating domestic and internationalconsumer pressures, it is unlikely that Brazil will move18 See Appendix 1 for details onfederal and state environmentalprograms.19 Pressures to loosen conservationlaws are already being felt inthe ongoing acrimonious debatein the Brazilian Congress over revisingthe 1965 Forest Code. Theagribusiness sector would like thelegal reserve requirement (thepercentage of land on private propertyin different biomes that mustbe preserved in its natural state)in the Amazon to be significantlyreduced from its current 80%. Theenvironmental movement and environmentalbureaucracy opposethis change (Noronha 2011). Revisionsto the Forest Code to loosenconservation rules for small-scalefarmers and ranchers passed inthe lower house of Congress on25 May 2011, but are expected tohave a tough fight in the Senate.President Dilma Rousseff is alsoexptected to veto certain provisionsin the legislation, such asamnesty for illegal deforestationon private lands prior to July 2008(Brooks 2011).Soy productivityKg/Hectare per year3.5003.0002.5001.5001.000500Center-West Region AverageMato GrossoFigure 3: Soy Productivity in Center-West and Mato Grosso.Source: CONAB 201190