Data on environmental crimes has become a political weapon in the dispute over deforestation

Analysis by: FGV ECMI

• Debate on deforestation is conducted by the opposition wing on Twitter mentions of “hypocrisy” and “lack of commitment” explore new records of deforestation and burning alerts;
• Discussion is polarized as to which government has done and will do more for the environment, with denials of criticism of Bolsonaro and conspiratorial assumptions about international and scientific authorities;
• Positive highlights for Lula are linked to the environmental agenda at the international level. An upward trend seems to be repeated in meetings with European authorities, as in the CELAC-UE Summit;
• The EU's anti-deforestation law had limited repercussions in the general debate, being praised by environmentalists and questioned by ‘ruralistas’ (the agricultural caucus), which held a public hearing on the subject.

Two antagonistic narratives about the fight against deforestation in Brazil have had high visibility since the beginning of Lula’s term: while the opposition claimed that the current president had demonstrated a disastrous conduct of environmental policies, based on data that point to records of illegal deforestation, profiles enthusiastic about the government highlighted Lula’s diplomatic ability to get support from other countries in the scope of this agenda. This is what the survey by FGV Comunicação Rio shows, it analyzed publications on Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram, between January 1 and July 13.

On Twitter and Telegram, opposition to the government tended to dominate the discussion by suggesting that the “negative results” of the current administration would prove that former president Jair Bolsonaro had been “wronged” by critics. On the other hand, also on Twitter and, to a greater extent, on Facebook, Lula's meetings with European authorities to discuss partnerships against deforestation were prominent. On Telegram, denialist narratives and conspiracy theories were identified among the most prominent messages in this discussion.

General Discussion

Evolution of the debate around deforestation on Twitter

Period: from January 1 to July 13

Source: Twitter | Elaboration: FGV ECMI

• News that deforestation in the Amazon registered negative records in Lula’s administration was responsible for the biggest spikes on the subject, in February and April. Traditional media pages and right-wing hyper-partisan vehicles, as well as opposition political actors, gained high visibility with the matter. Overall, this news was mobilized to combat the idea that Bolsonaro’s government would have been tragic in relation to the environment and that Lula would be committed to the environmental agenda;
• A case of irregular guarding of a capybara was also mobilized by the “Bolsonarist” base to criticize the actions of Lula’s management. The episode led to virtual and face-to-face attacks on Ibama, which had one of its headquarters in Manaus invaded. While the opposition argued that the attention given to the case was aimed at hiding Lula’s government failures, environmentalists, who were prominent in this discussion, claimed that the attacks would be a response to operations to combat deforestation;
• News about deforestation records in Cerrado also had repercussions, especially in right-wing hyper-partisan vehicles. After, the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva associated this fact with the previous government, and opposition congresspeople reinforced the chorus that the current government was trying to hide a bad management in the environmental area;
• On the other hand, President Lula's international work in relation to the environmental and climate agenda was also highlighted, in particular partnerships with European countries to mitigate illegal deforestation in the Amazon.
  
   

Top words and phrases about deforestation on Twitter

Period: from January 1 to July 13

Source: Twitter | Elaboration: FGV ECMI

• Phrases such as deforestation in the Amazon and record deforestation illustrate the dispute over narratives about environmental care in Bolsonaro’s and Lula’s terms. News about deforestation records recorded in the period were widely mobilized by the opposition to reinforce that Lula had no commitment to the environment. Environmentalists, in turn, rejected this idea and highlighted recent achievements, such as the revoking of the determination that facilitated the exploitation of wood in Indigenous lands;
• The news that Ibama has been restructured under the current government and has returned to action in the fight against deforestation still had a high impact. At the beginning of the year, the role of illegal mining in the humanitarian tragedy involving the Yanomamis highlighted the discussion on deforestation in the previous government.

Main links to the deforestation debate on Facebook

Period: from January 1 to July 1

Source: Twitter | Elaboration: FGV ECMI

• Right-wing hyper-partisan news vehicles, environmental portals and traditional media sites hosted the links with the most circulation on Facebook on the subject, which indicates a high dispute of narratives on the subject;
• While Jornal da Cidade Online gained notoriety by classifying the management of Environment Minister Marina Silva and President Lula as “incompetent” and criminal, in reference to deforestation records in February, environmental portals such as O Eco and Revista Cenarium Amazônia highlighted environmental consequences arising from the Bolsonaro government;
• In traditional media vehicles and in portals focused on agribusiness, the news about bank restrictions on ruralistas who raise cattle in illegally deforested areas in the Amazon was highlighted. The episode was associated with the veto approved by the European Parliament on the importation of products from illegally deforested areas, at the end of 2020.