Greenpeace: 5 reasons against the EU Mercosur agreement

Those who have followed the media in the past few weeks are shuddering with news from the Amazon. One wonders how one can only do something about the destruction of the Amazon - Greenpeace gives us with theirs Petition against the EU Mercosur agreement. Greenpeace also informs its readers about 5 reasons that speak against the EU Mercosur agreement. These are supposed to be spread here.

In a nutshell: 

 Mercosur stands for “Mercado Común del Sur”, which translates as common South American market. The trade pact in the EU-Mercosur agreement is intended to facilitate access to the European market for South American agricultural products from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. In return, according to Greenpeace, "tariffs on cars, machines and chemicals from the EU will be reduced". After 20 years of negotiation, the EU wants to ratify the agreement as soon as possible, even though the agreement also means the destruction of the Amazon. Greenpeace describes 5 reasons against the EU Mercosur agreement:

1) Destruction of the Amazon rainforest

With the EU-Mercosur agreement, tariffs on South American agricultural products will decrease. This in turn leads to an increased export of beef, sugar, bioethanol and many other products that need arable land. To get this, dry forests and the Amazon rainforest are cleared.

2) Trade at the expense of the climate

The increased transport routes that are brought about by the EU-Mercosur agreement also increase emissions at the same time. On top of that, the Amazon's important CO2 storage will be destroyed.

3) Cars for cows

The agreement not only benefits the South American agricultural industry, but also the European auto industry, which is making a major contribution to the climate crisis anyway. Greenpeace also emphasizes: "European agriculture produces enough meat - so much that it can even export large quantities of beef to non-EU countries".

This reminded me of my experience abroad in New Zealand - there were lots of kiwi plantations there, on which I worked myself, but you couldn't buy them in supermarkets. Instead there were kiwis from Africa or Asia. Crazy, right?

4) Pesticides and genetic engineering instead of agricultural change

In addition to the agricultural industry, pesticide manufacturers such as BASF and Bayer also benefit from the mass sale of monocultures, genetic engineering, antibiotics, growth hormones and, above all, pesticides, which are even banned in the EU. If that is not enough as a counter argument of the environment to love, you certainly do not want to get any food that contains these substances.

5) Human rights on the siding

To create arable land, the Amazon is cleared, among other things, which is not only home to thousands of, partly still undiscovered plants and animals, but also the home of indigenous communities. There are no binding agreements for the protection of indigenous people in the agreement. It is "unacceptable", according to Greenpeace, that the EU, of all things, agrees an agreement with President Bolsonaro that disregards and incites indigenous rights.

Greenpeace's plan is to explore the biodiversity of the Amazon together with scientists in the near future to show what is at stake. You may need help with a donation. In addition, with their petition, they are appealing to Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU) to accept “no dirty deals with the Bolsonaro government,” said Jürgen Knirsch, Greenpeace expert on world trade.

Sign here the Greenpeace petition!

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