Quemando la Amazonia

This report by Friends of the Earth International argues that the destruction of the Amazon, specifically the 2019 fires, is a result of corporate power and the expansion of the agricultural frontier. It contends that the Free Trade Agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) will accelerate this process by increasing demand for raw materials, facilitating land appropriation, and strengthening a 'corporate impunity' architecture that protects transnational companies while violating the rights of indigenous and traditional peoples.

• The 2019 Amazon fires were not isolated incidents but part of a coordinated process to clear land for agribusiness. In August 2019, there were approximately 31,000 fire outbreaks in the Brazilian Amazon, representing a 34% increase compared to August 2018.
• Violence against rural workers and traditional peoples is highly concentrated in the Amazon region; in 2019, 84% of rural murders and 73% of attempted murders occurred there.
• The expansion of the agricultural frontier is driven by a cycle of illegal logging, burning, and the conversion of land into cattle pastures and monocultures of export grains such as soy, corn, and rice.
• The Free Trade Agreement (TLC) between the EU and Mercosur is expected to increase global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 8.7 million tons per year for eight specific agricultural products, including beef, soy, and sugar.
• The EU-Mercosur agreement is criticized for lacking binding environmental protections, as its primary environmental clause refers to the Paris Agreement, which relies on voluntary National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and is not subject to the agreement's dispute settlement mechanism.
• The report identifies a 'corporate impunity' architecture where transnational companies (ETNs) benefit from the deregulation of socio-environmental laws and the weakening of state oversight bodies like INPE, FUNAI, Ibama, and ICMBio.
• The report highlights that women are disproportionately affected by the capitalist and patriarchal model of development in the Amazon, facing specific challenges related to water access and housing rights, and are often the primary defenders of their territories.
• The document claims that the EU-Mercosur agreement may facilitate the sale of pesticides by European companies (such as Monsanto, Bayer, Basf, and Syngenta) to Brazil by reducing trade taxes and limiting the application of the Precautionary Principle.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2020). Quemando la Amazonia. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Quemando-la-Amazonia_Amigos-de-la-Tierra-Internacional_ES.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. Quemando la Amazonia. 2020. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Quemando-la-Amazonia_Amigos-de-la-Tierra-Internacional_ES.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=Quemando la Amazonia |date=2020 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Quemando-la-Amazonia_Amigos-de-la-Tierra-Internacional_ES.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2020quemando, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{Quemando la Amazonia}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Quemando-la-Amazonia_Amigos-de-la-Tierra-Internacional_ES.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }