According to the agency, the country intends to apply sanctions based on the Magnitsky Law to expand the fight against climate change
The United States should apply penalties to “environmental criminals” that contribute to the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon. The information was disclosed exclusively by the Reuters??
According to the news agency, the initiative would represent a “big change” in the US strategy to combat climate change with more severe actions, such as the application of sanctions based on the Magnitsky Act ??what would freeze any assets of offenders and bar all Americans and businesses across the country from dealing with sanctioned individuals or entities.
According to data from Imazon (Institute for Man and Environment in the Amazon), from January to October 2022, deforestation in the Amazon was 9,696 km², equivalent to more than 6 times the city of São Paulo. This was the 2nd worst accumulated over the last 15 years, just 0.5% less than the same period in 2021, when 9,742 km² of deforestation were recorded.
In addition to deforestation, the US also intends to punish those responsible for other environmental crimes in the region, such as illegal mining. The country would have already started the process of identifying and investigating possible targets for punishment. However, it would not yet be defined when the sanctions would begin to be applied, according to the Reuters.
Sources at the agency stated that the project was being developed by the United States Department of the Treasury in conjunction with the offices of Economic and Commercial and Ocean Affairs and International Scientific and Environmental Affairs of the Department of State.
The US Treasury, responsible for sanctions Magnitskywas sought after by Reutersbut declined to take a position on the matter.
The news agency also contacted the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and the teams of the current chief executive, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and the transitional government of the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). They didn’t respond either.
O Power360 sought the Ministry of Justice to obtain an official position on the allegations in the report, but did not receive a response until the publication of this text?? The space remains open for demonstration.
According to a source from Reuters, the plan began to be elaborated during the 9th Summit of the Americas, held in Los Angeles, in the State of California (USA) in June of this year. On the occasion, the United States and Brazil announced that they will have a bilateral working group to reduce illegal deforestation in the Amazon and in other biomes, with the goal of ending it in 2028.