"Can China’s Amazon footprint evolve into a greener partnership?" 9 May 2022

Chinese investment in Brazil reflects “a marriage of interests”, according to Tulio Cariello, research director at the China-Brazil Business Council (CEBC).

“State Grid and China Three Gorges [two Chinese state-owned enterprises] came to Brazil buying companies because the country has put a lot on sale since the end of the Dilma Roussef government in 2016. And also because these Chinese companies needed to go abroad as they had already invested a lot in China,” Cariello told Diálogo Chino. [...]

In fact, for 2017, Trase found that China’s exposure to deforestation risk, the likelihood of sourcing from suppliers linked to illegal deforestation, was concentrated in just 1% and 2%, respectively, of Brazil’s soy and beef producing municipalities.

Concerned more about food safety than the climate or environmental impacts of the beef trade, China has been requiring certification of the origin of meat. Although the mechanism still needs to be strengthened, it does hint at moves towards greater transparency in supply chains. [...]

Host governments have had a big share of responsibility for managing environmental risks associated with Chinese trade and investment and have weakened regulations to try to boost trade. Bolivia increased fourfold the amount of land that could be cleared by fire in 2019, shortly after signing agreements to increase agricultural exports to China, and in the wake of the US-China trade war, explains Rebecca Ray, senior researcher at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center. [...]

Finance can be a powerful tool too. Though likely to be directed more towards conservation and protection rather than infrastructure, the Kunming Biodiversity Fund, announced last October at the first session of the China-hosted COP15 biodiversity talks, could bring greener partnerships to the Amazon. No firm details were given on the types of initiatives that will benefit from the fund, though this may become clearer at the second part of the event, set to be held later this year. [...]