New research finds EU-Mercosur trade agreement fails to meet sustainability criteria on human rights, ecosystems and climate; stands in contravention with EU's Green Deal
The proposed trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur bloc, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, fails to meet basic sustainability criteria and stands in direct contradiction to the goals of the European Green Deal, according to a report published by an international group of researchers.
“For years, the global benefits of free trade agreements were assumed rather than proven, particularly in wealthier regions like the EU,” said Dr. Chris O’Connell, one of the article’s co-authors and a CAROLINE Research Fellow at DCU’s School of Law and Government, as reported in Deutsche Welle.
“This has changed radically in the past few years. The climate emergency, rampant fires in the Amazon, and accelerated deforestation rates in Brazil are causing many to ask what is driving this situation, and how to address it. This article provides a framework for understanding what is at stake, and recommendations for making trade more sustainable and just.”
The report suggests that mechanisms to include and protect local communities, trace the origin of commodities, and to enforce sustainability standards are lacking throughout the proposed EU-Mercosur deal text.
It also mentions that frameworks to support inclusiveness, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), have been overlooked, while mechanisms to trace the origins of commodities with a high risk of driving deforestation, such as beef and soy, are also absent.
The provisional deal comes at a time when deforestation and violent attacks on Indigenous lands have accelerated in Brazil since Bolsonaro took office, with a sobering 516 major fires already detected this summer in Brazil’s Amazon, with unprecedented fires sweeping through Argentina’s and Brazil’s wetlands.
The destruction of natural habitat causes species extinctions, increases the likelihood of future pandemics, and accelerates the global climate crisis. As the Amazon burns, it nears a tipping point, that if reached could trigger a rapid shift from lush rainforest to a dry savannah - drastically reducing the rainfall on which South America’s agriculture depends.
“Given the widespread Amazon and wetland fires, as well as [German chancellor Angela] Merkel’s recent ‘considerable doubts’ over the deal following her meeting with youth climate activists, our research adds to mounting evidence against this deal,” said lead author Dr Laura Kehoe, an Irish scientist with the LEAP programme at the University of Oxford.
The article’s findings are particularly relevant given not only the environmental situation in South America, but also the recent naming of new Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovski. According to Kehoe, “a great first step” by the new Commissioner would be “to make trade deals contingent on countries progressing towards their Paris Agreement target.”
“Importantly, bans on trade in specific goods and services should be introduced until commodities comply with basic legal and sustainability criteria in line with international agreements. This is a particularly powerful policy option given the lack of legal mechanisms to enforce international agreements such as the Paris Agreement,” the research notes while outlining how the economic power of trade could instead be utilised as an incentive for countries to meet their Paris Agreement commitments.
At a time when deforestation, climate change, and Indigenous rights violations are escalating, urgent action from the European Union is crucial. “Our window of opportunity for avoiding the disastrous outcomes of climate change is closing. As the school strikes and climate protests across Europe have shown, we will no longer accept production practices that cause climate change”, says Tiago Reis, a Brazilian PhD candidate at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.
The sad irony of it all is that there was never any need for more deforestation in Brazil: research has shown that future agricultural demand could be met from improving existing farm practices and restoring degraded land, without any need for more conversion of natural habitats.
The article’s findings have received media attention both in Europe and South America, but particularly in Ireland, where the farming lobby is strongly opposed to the deal.