including mudslides and birth defects potentially attributable to heavy pollution in the region. since that time, efforts have been made to improve environmental conditions in the area including, since 1993, cosipa's $200 million investment in environmental controls. in 2000, cubatão's center registered 48 micrograms of particles per cubic meter of air, down from 1984 measurements registering 100 micrograms of particles per cubic meter. likely due to trade liberalization, brazil has a high concentration of pollution-intensive export industries. studies point to this as evidence of brazil being a pollution haven. the highest of levels of pollution intensity are found in export-related industries such as metallurgy, paper and cellulose, and footwear. water pollution brazil’s major and medium size metropolitan areas face increasing problems of water pollution. coastal cities such as rio de janeiro and recife suffer effects of upstream residential and industrial sewage contaminating feeder rivers, lakes, and the ocean. in 2000, only 35% of collected wastewater received any treatment. for example, the tietê river, which runs through the são paulo metropolitan area (17 million inhabitants), has returned to its 1990 pollution levels. despite the support from the idb, the world bank and caixa econômica federal in a us$400 million cleanup effort, the level of dissolved oxygen has returned to the critical level of 1990 at 9 mg per liter due to increased levels of unregulated sewerage, phosphorus, and ammonia nitrogen discharged into the river. as of 2007, the state water company sabesp projects that a minimum of r$3 billion (us$1.7bn) would be necessary to clean up the river. the south and southeast regions of brazil experience water scarcity due to overexploitation and misuse of surface water resources, mostly attributable to heavy pollution from sewage, leaking landfills, and industrial waste. according to an investigation by unearthed, more than 1,200 pesticides and weedkillers, including 193 containing chemicals banned in the eu, have been registered in brazil between 2016 and 2019. water pollution is also derived from ethanol production. due to the size of the industry, its agroindustrial activity in growing, harvesting, and processing sugarcane generates water pollution from the application of fertilizers and agrochemicals, soil erosion, cane washing, fermentation, distillation, the energy producing units installed in mills and by other minor sources of waste water. the two greatest sources of water pollution from ethanol production come from mills in the form of waste water from washing sugarcane stems prior to passing through mills, and vinasse, produced in distillation. these sources increase the biochemical oxygen demand in the waters where they are discharged which leads to the depletion of dissolved oxygen in the water and often causes anoxia. legislation has banned the direct discharge of vinasse onto surface waters, leading it to be mixed with waste water from the sugarcane washing process to be reused as organic fertilizer on sugarcane fields. despite this ban, some small sugarcane mills still discharge vinasse into streams and rivers due to a lack of transportation and application resources. furthermore, vinasse is sometimes mishandled in storage and transport in mills. guanabara bay has had three major oil spills as well as other forms of pollution. the tietê river has for over twenty years been afflicted with heavy pollution from sewage, primarily from são paulo, and manufacturing. in 1992, the tietê project was initiated in an effort to clean up the river. são paulo today processes 55% of its sewage and is expected to process 85% by 2018. mercury pollution from gold mining in brazil has led to contamination of fish in the state of amapá. climate change this section is an excerpt from climate change in brazil. forest fires are both a consequence and a cause of climate change. climate change in brazil is mainly the climate of brazil getting hotter and drier. the greenhouse effect of excess carbon dioxide and methane emissions makes the amazon rainforest hotter and drier, resulting in more wildfires in brazil. parts of the rainforest risk becoming savanna. brazil's greenhouse gas emissions per person are higher than the global average, and brazil is among countries which emit a large amount of greenhouse gas. greenhouse gas emissions by brazil are almost 3% of the annual world total. firstly due to cutting down trees in the amazon rainforest, which emitted more carbon dioxide in the 2010s than it absorbed. and secondly from large cattle farms, where cows belch methane. in the paris agreement brazil promised to reduce its emissions, but the incumbent bolsonaro government has been criticized for doing too little to limit climate change or adapt to climate change. solutions and policies brazil has a generally advanced and comprehensive legislation on environmental protection and sustainability. laws regarding forests, water, and wildlife have been in effect since the 1930s. until the mid-1990s, environmental legislation addressed isolated environmental issues; however, the legal framework has been improved through new policy-making that targets environmental issues within the context of an integrated environmental policy. the brazilian government strives toward the preservation and sustainable development of brazilian biomes. consequently, the brazilian government developed strategies to impose specific policies for each biome and organize opportunities for social participation, institutional reform of the forestry sector, and expansion of the biodiversity concept. for example, the program legal earth, developed by the ministries of agrarian development and environment, has the responsibility to regulate the use of public lands occupied in the amazon region. this program was successful in restricting the marketing of meat produced on illegally deforested areas and the proper identification of permitted areas for growing sugarcane for the production of ethanol. brazil recognized that it was part of the solution to the problem of climate change. in 2010, brazil took the necessary steps to advance its climate change commitments made at the cop-15 in copenhagen. for example, the policy to combat deforestation in the amazon in had produced positive results, as demonstrated by announcements of increasingly lower deforestation rates. between 2000 and 2010, the deforestation took huge proportions. then, in 2011, data from the brazilian ministry of environment showed a decrease in deforestation rates in the amazon rainforest. this is in part due to an increased awareness of the damaging effects of prolific logging practices and a shift toward sustainable forestry in brazil. the effect of deforestation on rainfall. although forestry companies—many of which are based outside of brazil—are interested in increasing their longevity, the brazilian government has been actively promoting more sustainable forestry policies for years. brazil's national institute for space research (inpe) has helped reduce deforestation levels over the course of 2011 through its real time deforestation detection system (deter). besides deter, inpe also has the amazon deforestation satellite monitoring project (prodes). furthermore, brazil has negotiated to use satellites from india to improve the monitoring of deforestation in the amazon rain forest. in addition, the government took measures to more effectively enforce its deforestation reduction policy through shutting down illegal sawmills and seizing illegal timber and vehicles. brazilian officials and environmental advocates alike were confident that these measures would enhance the brazilian government's ability to combat deforestation, biodiversity loss, and pollution. data from 2010 showed that brazil has reduced deforestation rates in the amazon by more than 70%, the lowest deforestation rate in over 20 years. at this rate, brazil's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 38.9% was to be reached by 2016 rather than 2020. between 2010 and 2018, amazon deforestation rates have indeed been low, but data suggests that (in the amazon region), since 2019, the deforestation rate is again rising considerably. despite all those efforts, however, the problem with deforestation and illegal logging has remained a very serious issue in the country. governmental organizations the ministry of environment is responsible for brazil's national environmental policy. the ministry's many departments deal with climate change and environmental quality, biodiversity and forests, water resources, sustainable urban and rural development, and environmental citizenship. other authorities are also responsible for the implementation of environmental policies, including the national council on the environment, the national council of the amazon, the national council of water resources, the chico mendes institute for biodiversity conservation (icmbio), brazilian institute of environment and renewable natural resources (ibama), board of management of public forests, and others. the collaborative work of these institutions makes it possible to ensure sustainable growth within the means of the environment. non-governmental organizations the development of institutions at the governmental level was stimulated and accompanied by the diffusion and increasing importance of ngos dedicated to environmental causes and sustainable development. numerous ngos throughout brazil produce documents containing both useful information and criticisms. namefoundation yearmission sos mata atlântica1986defend the atlantic forest areas, protect the communities that inhabit the region, and preserve their natural, historical, and cultural heritage. socio environmental institute1994defend rights related to the environment, cultural heritage, and human rights. greenpeacedefend the environment by raising awareness about environmental issues and influence people to change their habits. wwf-brasil1996instruct brazilian society on how to use natural resources in a rational manner. conservation international (ci)1987protect biodiversity and instruct society on how to live in harmony with nature. akatu instituteguide brazil's consumption habits toward a sustainable model. ecoar instituteafter rio-92provide environmental education as an effort to rescue degraded areas and implement local sustainable development programs and projects. ecoa1989create a space for negotiations and decisions about environmental protection and sustainability. reciclotecadiffuse information on environmental issues, especially for the reduction, reutilization, and recycling of waste. friends of the earth-brazilian amazon1989develop projects and activities that promote sustainable development in the amazonian region. national network to fight the trafficking of wild animals (renctas)1999combat the trafficking of wild animals and contribute to biodiversity protection. atlantic forest ngo networkprovide information about ngos that work toward the protection of the atlantic forest. brazilian forum of ngos and social movements for the environment and development (fboms)1990facilitate the participation of the public in the united nations conference on environment (unced). brazilian foundation for sustainable development (fbds)1992implement the conventions and treaties approved at rio-92. international agreements as part of brazil's environmental initiatives, it is party to the following international agreements: antarctic-environmental protocol, antarctic-marine living resources, antarctic seals, antarctic treaty, biodiversity, climate change, kyoto protocol, desertification, endangered species, environmental modification, hazardous wastes, law of the sea, marine dumping, ozone layer protection, ship pollution, tropical timber 83, tropical timber 94, wetlands, whaling, and the paris agreement. map of conflicts related to environmental injustice and health in brazil the "map of conflicts related to environmental injustice and health in brazil" is an online map of conflicts relating to environmental injustice and health in brazil. the map is maintained by the national school of public health of brazil, the oswaldo cruz foundation, and núcleo ecologías, epistemiologias e promoção emancipatória da saude (neepes). since 2008, the project has mapped and described major cases of environmental conflicts in all brazilian regions. the map has been online since 2010. as of june 2022, the map listed at least 600 conflicts. governmental role in environmental issues spearheading the current-day exploitation of the amazon rainforest is the administration of president jair bolsonaro. originally running on a platform that included supporting extractivist interests such as enforcing environmental regulations, reforestation, and added protections, bolsonaro has done quite the opposite. the president encourages the ideology that the brazilian economy should not be restricted by environmental concerns. his administration has taken all possible steps to increase accessibility to logging, agriculture, and poaching at the great expense of the environment. they have shown a consistent pattern of undermining environmental ngos, and they periodically announce environmental protection enforcements that typically are not seen through with just to keep international pressures at bay. as of july 2019, about 7 months into his term, the amazon had lost 1,330 square miles of forest coverage, a 39 percent increase from the period before. statistics that have continued to increase since. bolsonaro has also cut the brazilian environmental agency's budget by 24 percent which has led to a 20 percent decrease in their activity. all of this is propelled by the thought that the amazon rainforest is theirs to be used for the benefit of the country, prioritizing financial profits over the well-being of the environment. human rights watch sent in a team to brazil who spent about a year and a half collecting information and interviewed about 170 people, half government employees and half community members. they were investigating a series of forest fires that the