page_title: European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement
section_title: Environmentalists
hierarchical_section_title: European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement / Opposition / Environmentalists
caption_attribution_description: English: Satellite observation of deforestation in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso
context_page_description: The European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement is a free trade agreement on which the EU and Mercosur reached agreement in principle in 2019. The deal was announced at the 2019 G20 Osaka summit after twenty years of negotiations. Although there is agreement in principle, the final texts have not been finalised, signed or ratified and therefore has not entered into force. If ratified, it would represent the largest trade deal struck by both the EU and Mercosur in terms of citizens involved. The trade deal is part of a wider Association Agreement between the two blocs, currently under negotiation.
context_section_description: Of concern also is the potential environmental impact of the agreement, in particular that it could represent a setback in the fight against climate change. The Amazon rainforest is one of the world's largest carbon sinks. But the amount of carbon that the Amazon is absorbing from the atmosphere and storing each year has fallen by around a third in the last decade. This decline in the Amazon carbon sink amounts to one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide – equivalent to over twice the UK’s annual emissions. Since the election of Jair Bolsonaro as President of Brazil deforestation of the Amazon has intensified. The deforestation of the Amazon is now at its highest rate in a decade, with 2018 seeing a 13% increase in deforestation.
  Cattle farming is the single largest driver of Amazon deforestation, and has been responsible for as much as 80% of the deforestation. The current increased rate of rainforest destruction comes at a time of record beef exports from Brazil. The fear is that the deal could lead to even more deforestation as it expands market access to Brazilian beef. EU leaders have responded to criticism by stating that the terms of the deal do not contravene the targets of the Paris climate agreement and that the trade deal highlights a commitment to “rules-based trade”. Yet, as Jonathan Watts points out, “there are countless reports of rule-breaking by Brazilian meat companies”. Many experts consider the environmental provisions in the current text of the deal to be “toothless” as they lack enforcement powers  Brazil is a signatory to the Paris climate agreement but President Bolsonaro has criticised it and threatened to pull Brazil out. As mentioned above, deforestation of the Amazon has intensified under Bolsonaro. He has been accused of weakening Brazil's environmental ministry, encouraging farming and mining expansion in the area and turning a blind eye to illegal destruction. The current environment minister, Ricardo Salles, has imposed the lowest number of fines for illegal deforestation in a decade.
  According to Jonathan Watts ‘negotiations took almost two decades, which may explain why the outcome signed last week reflects the pro-industry values of the past rather than the environmental concerns of the present’. An editorial in The Irish Times states “EU countries are committing to achieving net-zero carbon by 2050, but this will prove meaningless if the planet’s greatest carbon sink is destroyed.”  Former French environment minister Nicolas Hulot denounced the agreement in an interview with Le Monde, claiming that is "completely contradictory" to the EU's climate goals and warning that it would enable further destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Fears have been expressed in the Financial Times that the “EU-Mercosur deal will cancel out climate efforts”.
caption: NASA satellite observation of deforestation in the Mato Grosso state of Brazil. The transformation from forest to farm is evident by the paler square shaped areas under development.
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