ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Trade Protectionism a Latent Danger

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, Jan 29 2003 (IPS) - Brazil’s new government will try to prevent environmental issues from being used as an excuse for trade protectionism in a globalised world that ideally should be a giant space for exchange amongst different cultures, says environment minister Marina Silva.

"We must be careful with non-tariff trade barriers, although there are signs of progress in the legislation of individual countries, and it can’t be set aside solely for global market interests," Silva told IPS.

Brazil is a very rich country in terms of natural resources, which is why there must be greater care to ensure environmental quality, she said after wrapping up her presentation before thousands of activists taking part in the World Social Forum earlier this week in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

Globalisation is not an evil in itself, says Silva. It can serve as a giant arena for exchange between different cultures and different peoples, and provides the possibility of cooperation and "an opportunity to build something together."

But that ideal model is still a long way from the current process of "homogenisation, assimilation… especially where there is a strong bias towards domination, whether economic, cultural, or even military," she said in a conversation with IPS.

"Globalisation is neither good nor bad. What can be negatives are the results obtained, through interests that are not always aligned with the goals of consolidating values, ethics, equity, and above all, of valuing life," said Silva.

The rapacious exploitation of natural resources to reduce production costs in order to create competitive advantages has very harmful effects, which are often felt at the global level. This obligates nations to work together to seek solutions, she added.

Named to her post by leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office Jan 1, the minister defines her vocation as "social-environmentalist".

This combination of ecological and social concerns emerged through her childhood in the Amazon forests, as Silva was immersed in the traditional knowledge of the forest peoples and in the struggle in their defence.

This Cabinet member of the Lula administration served two terms as senator for the northwestern state of Acre, but her upbringing stands in stark contrast to her position today.

As a girl, she worked cutting slashes into the bark of rubber trees to help her father, a ‘seringueiro’ (rubber tapper) to collect the latex as a means to provide for their impoverished family of eight children.

She would walk 14 km a day, "seven to score the trees, and another seven to collect" the latex from which natural rubber is made.

The untimely death of her mother meant Silva had to take over the housekeeping chores and care for her siblings.

There was no school at the rubber plantation, which was 170 km from Rio Branco, Acre’s capital. But she learned math so her bosses wouldn’t cheat on the numbers and pay her less than what she had worked so hard for.

She did not learn to read and write until age 17, after moving to Rio Branco for treatment for hepatitis after she had been originally misdiagnosed with malaria.

A special course through MOBRAL (Brazilian Literacy Movement), late-night studies while she worked as a housekeeper, as well as intensive high-school courses allowed her to enter university and ultimately graduate in history.

Somewhere along the way she abandoned the dream of becoming a nun, seduced instead by trade union and political struggles, by the Liberation Theology she learned from Roman Catholic priests Leonardo and Clodovis Boff, who frequently visited Acre.

Her contact with the Chico Mendes, the seringueiro leader and founder of rubber tree reserves who was assassinated in 1988, changed her life, she says.

Mendes taught Silva what she considers her fundamental principles: listen to everyone (including those on the opposing side), give opportunity to all by creating "horizontal relationships", and share the praise for everything one does.

She recognises that she is an exception. But she believes she has reached her current status because of the opportunities she has been given, not solely because of her abilities.

"There are millions of Marinas, Lulas, and Chico Mendes out there among Brazilians. Their vocations are unfulfilled because present conditions do not allow them to develop their potential," says Silva.

Her dream is that the Lula administration will turn such exceptions – these exceptional people – into the rule, widening opportunities for everyone and serving as a counterpoint to the "reactionary, conservative discourse that preaches praise for the exception."

She condemns the powerful who say "people are poor because they were not willing to make the efforts Marina did."

"If we promote changes with the participation of the people, we will triumph," but if achievements are sought without the Brazilian people, it will fail, states the minister.

Climate change is the worst environmental problem because humanity’s very survival is at stake, she says. It is caused by carbon dioxide emissions largely from human activities, so requires the participation of all peoples and cooperation among governments.

The minister, who is part of the leftist Workers’ Party (PT) government, does not hesitate to say that private capital could play a role in projects to distribute potable water and provide sanitation services, a touchy globalisation issue here during the World Social Forum (Jan 23-28).

But the Lula government, she clarified, has the obligation to provide strategic, basic services, such as sewerage. There may be opportunities to carry out such projects in partnership with the private sector, but doing so must be advantageous for the interests of local society and of the state, she added.

Another controversial issue Silva faces as environment minister is whether Brazil should allow cultivation of genetically modified crops, and particularly soya, one of the country’s leading farm commodities.

She thinks more research is needed in Brazil before commercial planting of transgenic seeds is authorised.

"We are not against the studies conducted in other countries, like the United States, but commercial cultivation requires research within our own context, research that provides answers for the conditions unique to Brazil, a country with great biodiversity."

"It wouldn’t be prudent to apply here the results obtained from studies in countries with little variety of species, such as the United States or Canada, where more in-depth research has been conducted on genetically modified soya," commented the minister.