According to a government announcement on Thursday, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will present a plan to boost Brazil’s accessible agricultural lands by 60% without causing deforestation at the UN’s upcoming COP28 climate summit.
A week before the climate summit, which is scheduled to begin in Dubai on November 30, the administration of the South American nation declared that it would begin converting degraded grazing areas into agriculture.
“We carried out a study and counted nearly 160 million hectares (395 million acres) of grazing areas. Of this total, around 40 million hectares (99 million acres) are located in degraded grazing areas, but very suitable for crops,” Roberto Perosa, a Ministry of Agriculture official, told a news conference.
“With a certain investment in the soil, this land can be converted into an arable area.”
The government intends to invest $120 billion over the next ten years in order to increase the country’s agriculture, as it has emerged as a major agricultural force in the world.
Brazil’s cropland will grow from 65 million to 105 million hectares “without felling a single tree” if the plan is accomplished, which would greatly worry the country of the Amazon.
According to Perosa, current private efforts have the capacity to convert roughly 1.5 million hectares of grazing land year; the government hopes to increase this amount with support from Brazilian financial institutions.
The left-wing president of the nation, Lula, has elevated environmental protection and the preservation of the Amazon rainforest to the top of his agenda.
However, agriculture continues to be a significant economic pillar and a significant political force.
Under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation in the Amazon rose significantly, frequently by farmers, miners, and cattle ranchers. By 2030, Lula has pledged to put an end to illicit deforestation.
