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Brazil Doesn't Have to Choose Between the Environment and the Economy

By Natalie Unterstell

President Jair Bolsonaro’s efforts to roll-back environmental regulations reverse years of innovative policymaking in Brazil.

As a candidate, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro promised to undo environmental regulations. As president, he has made good on that promise and more – pushing a slate of anti-environment measures that, if enacted, would sabotage years of progress on environmental protection and jeopardize large tracts of the Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna. That spells trouble both for Brazil’s economy and the global fight against climate change.  

Brazil started to develop an environmental protection system in the 1980s. Like most countries, this system remains anchored in the principle that those who...

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