Deforestation in the Amazon

Fabian Hamilton Excerpts

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Westminster Hall

[Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I add my thanks to the right hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) for once again securing this debate, which could not have come at a more important time for the future of the Amazon and the world. I also pay tribute to my predecessor on the Opposition Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office team, my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West), for her excellent work on this issue.

Today we have once again had a very good debate, reflecting few party political differences but determination among all those present to ensure that further destruction of the Amazon rainforest is ceased immediately. We heard from the proposer of the debate, the right hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, that the situation in the Amazon has got worse in the past six months—nearly seven months—since our previous debate in the House. The Amazon is a flagship of forests around the world. The progress of the past has been reversed and land is being cleared at an alarming rate every single day.

The right hon. Gentleman said the Brazilian Senate must now step in to stop legislation that would add to that deforestation. That is a very important point and the reason we are here today. He explained why this House has an important role in helping to stop further deforestation, so that pressure from us is entirely relevant to what is happening in Brazil. Nothing could be clearer. I was grateful that he also made the link between road building and further deforestation. He said there is a clear and present danger to the future of the Amazon rainforest and biodiversity worldwide. Those points are vital. He also said that there should be no trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Brazil unless the destruction is stopped. We certainly endorse that.

We then heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy), in a powerful contribution, about the Amazon being the lungs of the Earth. We all know that, but it might now be emitting more carbon than it can possibly absorb. She pointed out that the Amazon is home to 10% of the world’s species. It is a challenge for nations that have rich natural resources but terrible poverty not to exploit those resources, but we must ensure and encourage those countries to do so. Brazil, of course, is not one of the poorest nations on earth. The UK Government really do need to act.

We then heard from the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish), who has great expertise, experience and knowledge of these issues, that Brazil is saying the right things but not acting in the right way. He gave us the statistics that support his assertion—staggering numbers. He mentioned the banks that should stop funding illegal deforestation.

The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), in his typically excellent way, told us about the importance of trees—emphasising something we already know—in combating climate change and oxygenating the air that we breathe every day. The UK itself is seriously lagging behind in reforestation and we must seek protection for indigenous tribes in the Amazon. The hon. Gentleman’s constituents, like all of ours, are extremely concerned at the hourly destruction of the forests.

The hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) made the point that only 13% of the UK is covered in forest, so a little humility on our part is important, too. I hope when we talk to the Brazilians that we express that humility. We say this on behalf of all the inhabitants of planet Earth, whether human or not. He said it is right to press Brazil to do more, given the importance of Brazilian rainforests to the entire planet. Alarm bells should be ringing here and across the world.

We then heard an excellent summary from the SNP spokesperson the hon. Member for Dundee West (Chris Law). The destruction of trees and other plants in the Amazon is horrifying, and we must not allow it to continue if the world is to successfully tackle climate change. Just two months after President Bolsonaro signed an agreement at COP26 to end deforestation by 2030, deforestation has hit its highest level in 15 years and continues to go largely unabated. It is clear to me and to all of us that the Brazilian Government’s position is inherently contradictory, with President Bolsonaro continuously encouraging mining and agriculture in the Amazon and trying to pass legislation that allows commercial developments on protected land. Alongside that, his attempts to offer financial incentives to the ancient indigenous tribes to develop their land in the rainforest into soy plantations is completely unacceptable.

The result of these reckless actions is that the Amazon has begun, as we have heard this morning, to emit more carbon than it can possibly absorb. It surely has to be a priority of the international community to exhaust all diplomatic avenues to ensure that the Brazilian Government take urgent action to reverse this—and fast. Opening up Brazil’s economy to the world cannot come at the cost of the Amazon rainforest’s destruction. Other countries continue to import wood and beef from Brazil, and the Brazilian Government should not be made to bear sole responsibility for the destruction we are seeing.

Does the Minister believe that the UK Government’s plan to tackle overseas deforestation is fit for purpose, now that it has been watered down and that deforestation continues to go unchallenged? Given that this Government’s Ministers boasted of their world-leading approach to protecting vital rainforest habitats as part of the Environment Bill in November last year, launching a consultation in December pledging to

“clean up the UK’s supply chains”,

is the Minister concerned that the scheme applies only to deforestation that is legal under local laws, giving leaders such as President Bolsonaro, who is stripping away legal protections, a loophole to bypass the so-called clampdown?

Britain’s place in the world depends on its ability to meet the new challenges the Earth faces. It cannot afford to drag its feet on climate change and the deforestation of the Amazon. When will the Government match the pledges of our allies in Europe, who have acted both on illegal and legal deforestation, not only in the interests of bringing down carbon emissions, but also in protecting species under increasing threat of extinction?

We are facing a climate emergency. It is time that the Government properly used the UK’s formidable diplomatic influence to challenge President Bolsonaro on the deforestation of the Amazon. The Government’s current proposals are far too weak. It is clear to the Opposition that the Government do not view tackling climate change as the foremost priority of its international and foreign policy after they agreed a trade deal with Australia that had absolutely no environmental or climate safeguards. The UK has a huge part to play in the fight against climate change, and the deforestation of the Amazon is a clear example of where we in this country should be at the forefront of this fight.