Brazil’s new environment minister believes that global warming is “secondary”, that many environmental fines are “ideological” and has been accused of altering plans for an environmentally protected area in order to favour businesses.
Ricardo Salles, the former environment secretary for São Paulo state, was recommended for his new role by business and agribusiness groups and announced as minister in a tweet on Sunday by the far - right president - elect, Jair Bolsonaro.
Environmentalists said the appointment was a serious setback to protection at a time when deforestation and illegal mining in the Amazon were on the rise.
Marcio Astrini, the public policy director at Greenpeace Brazil, said Salles was “not chosen for his history of environmental protection. He was chosen because he accepts Bolsonaro’s agenda. ” Astrini said neutering environmental agencies and reducing protected areas could make deforestation “explode”.
“This is not an environmental agenda. It is an agenda of threats to the environment, ” he said.
SOURCE: The Guardian