Report reveals that, to win a place in the OECD, the federal government lies, omits and distorts environmental data

A OECD is a kind of “club of rich countries” or, according to its official description, it is an international organization that works to build better policies for a better life.

The biggest bet of Jair Bolsonaro's (PL) government for foreign policy is Brazil's request for membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). To this end, at the end of September, the Brazilian government sent the initial memorandum to the international organization, which will serve as a basis for evaluating the country's alignment with the group's commitmentssystem. (Agency Brazil)

With 1.170 pages, the memorandum assesses the degree of alignment of the candidate country's legislation, policies and practices with the standards established by the OECD in 32 different sectors. Among the areas analyzed are trade, investment, digital economy, health, education, environment, competition, tourism and nuclear energy.

With exclusivity, the UOL had access to this document and revealed that the Bolsonaro government is “using the lack of transparency to sell a reality that does not exist in Brazil, without civil society being able to react”.

Check out some points mentioned in the UOL report:

• the government would have made reference to Law 12.187, of 2009, which created the National Policy on Climate Change, but omitted the fact that the policy had targets for 2020 that were not achieved;
• the memo cited the existence of the National Climate Change Fund, but failed to mention that, in 2019, the government stopped transfers to the fund and suspended projects;
• as a goal to contain illegal deforestation linked to soy production in the Amazon region, the document cites the creation of Soy Moratorium in 2008, but omits that, upon assuming government in 2019, Bolsonaro withpromejoin the ruralist caucus in working to extinguish the pact and prevent it from being expanded to also affect the Cerrado;
• In the memorandum delivered by Brazil, the government insists that it is completely aligned on all issues related to environmental protection. However, the text is limited to listing programs, without explaining whether they are fulfilling their functions, whether there is a budget and what the real impact is – that is, ignores real data on deforestation in Brazil;

• In the document, the federal government speaks of a “complete alignment” of Brazil with a legal instrument of preservation of biodiversity, however, it omits how it will achieve the goal included in the OECD membership plan, which is to end the loss of biodiversity by 2030.
• the memo included the Amazon Fund in the list of measures adopted in the country to prove that Brazil complies with the institution's requirements, but omitted that the fund was buried by the Brazilian president in the first year of his government, opening a diplomatic crisis with Norway and Germany.

Don't forget to read the full report, on the UOL portal.

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