Brasília, Brazil – Greenpeace Brazil activists recreated the oil spill that contaminated hundreds of beaches and a sample of Amazon destruction directly to the President at the Presidential Palace. Nineteen activists were detained by the military police following the peaceful protest in Brasilia. 

Photos can be accessed here.

“As the oil spreads, the Brazilian government continues to hold auctions and offer more than 2,000 oil blocks in various socially and environmentally sensitive areas, from the Brazilian coast to the Amazon rainforest. We are experiencing a climate emergency, we need to abandon fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to a 100% clean and renewable energy matrix,” says Thiago Almeida, Greenpeace Brazil’s Climate and Energy campaigner.

The activists are confronting the government’s failure to respond to the vast oil patches showing up in the country’s northeastern beaches as well as the mismanagement of the Amazon fires. Since early September, oil streaks have washed up on the beaches, affecting local communities, marine animals, fishing, tourism, and the economy of 200 locations in every state of Northeastern Brazil. In the Amazon, deforestation alerts issued in August and September 2019 were 142 percent higher compared to the same period in 2018, as indicated by the Deter monitoring system of the National Institute for Spatial Research (INPE).

While continuing to ignore the environmental destruction plaguing Brazil, Bolsonaro is on a trip to Asia and the Middle East. Greenpeace Japan activists went to the Brazilian Embassy today to demand the government stop Amazon destruction. 

Contacts: 

Karen Mota, Press Officer, Greenpeace Brazil, + 5511 30351167 or + 5511 972526867, imprensa.br@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org

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