Brazilian Lawmakers Funded By Donors Guilty Of Enviro Crimes: Report

"Roughly half of the high-ranking politicians serving in Brazil’s lower house of congress received campaign donations in the last general election from companies and individuals that committed environmental crimes, an investigation by Repórter Brasil has found.

Of Brazil’s 513 elected members of the Chamber of Deputies, 249 received a total of 58.9 million reais (US$18.3 million) in official donations during the 2014 election from companies and people who illegally cleared and/or burned forests, or committed other environmental crimes. These donations were both direct and indirect (i.e. funneled through committees), and came from 92 companies and 40 individuals registered on a list of environmental crime perpetrators complied by IBAMA, the nation’s environmental agency.

Though receiving these donations is not a crime, nor forbidden by Brazil’s Electoral Court, it does provide insight into how environmental offenders are connected to, and potentially influencing, lawmakers and their decisions. Some analysts feel strongly that the raft of anti-environmental legislation launched by the National Congress, which comprises the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate, since 2014, especially under the Temer administration, may be closely linked to these recent campaign contributions."

Anna Sophie Gross reports for Mongabay March 21, 2018.