12
Sep
2022
Watch
Deforestation Regulation (debate)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we have been living unconsciously for too long. We refuse to see that the unbridled search for infinite growth in a finite world is madness. And the awakening is brutal. The awakening is brutal, as the world's forests, which absorb carbon and are home to 80% of biodiversity, are disappearing. This is the equivalent of 800 football fields that are sacrificed every hour. This madness, which threatens entire populations and undermines the very conditions of life on Earth, is done in our name for our so-called development. But what is the name of a development that sows chaos and destruction? The European Union alone accounts for 16% of global deforestation. I am talking about forests, but I also want to talk about human beings. I want to talk to you about the Raoni cacique who, for years, has been trying to protect forests. I would like to mention, among many others, Ari Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, who lost his life because he was documenting illegal deforestation on his territory. Defenders of the Earth are now the primary targets of corporations, mafias and sometimes even crooked governments that prefer profits to life. To fail to act is to be complicit. The International Criminal Court has also been seised of cases relating to deforestation in Cambodia. Fortunately, times are changing. Today we decide to ban companies from marketing products from deforestation. It is an essential first step, but I want to say here on the right that to refuse to force our banks to stop financing deforestation is to turn a blind eye to the power of money to destroy the world. Let’s not tell ourselves stories: The text we are adopting today does not solve everything. Because we have given in to agro-industry lobbies, we decide not to preserve the biome of the Brazilian Cerrado or Colombia from the ravages of avocado exploitation. By giving in to fossil fuel lobbies, we refuse to act for Congo’s peatlands threatened by gas and oil. The road is long, we are only halfway there. This first step must be followed by others so that we can finally live in harmony with forests and with life.