Climate Change and Biodiversity Governance in the Amazon

Joana Castro Pereira is a researcher at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations (IPRI), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.Eduardo Viola is a full professor at the Institute of International Relations (IREL), Universidade de Brasília, and a senior research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies (IEA), Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.

"This new book by Pereira and Viola shows remarkable breadth and depth. It reveals that the Amazon forest is approaching a deforestation tipping point, with high stakes for not just global climate change, but also biodiversity conservation. By focusing on the politics behind the outcomes - in four Amazonian countries and internationally - the book shows both how the region reached this threshold and also how it could still pull back from the brink. A tour de force!"Kathryn Hochstetler, Professor and Head of Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science"The Amazon is the Earth’s most crucial ecosystem, and it is in grave crisis. With the looming prospect of climate change and habitat destruction combining to trigger a disastrous ecological "tipping point", Pereira and Viola offer a detailed and incisive analysis of how regional governments, parties and corporations are pushing the Amazon to the brink of catastrophe. This book reminds us that the Anthropocene is not merely a dystopian playground for social theory but an urgent crisis of the biosphere and failing systems of greed, extraction, and governance. It should be read by every environmentalist, scholar and politician with a conscience."Anthony Burke, Professor of Environmental Politics and International Relations, University of New South Wales, Canberra"Humans can live with one lung, yet they are born with two. Nature has been generous with us: by means of redundancy, it chose safety over efficiency. Yet the world has one lung, and it is losing it – or rather, we humans are wrecking it. Through extensive fieldwork in four South American countries, Pereira and Viola scrutinized biodiversity governance in the Amazon to measure the extent of the damage and suggest policy options. Their work is as scholarly solid as it is politically compelling."Andrés Malamud, Principal Researcher, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon"Pereira and Viola provide an authoritative overview of the political processes that have shaped the environmental governance of the Amazon basin in the last two decades. While the book provides a useful summary of Brazilian policies and politics, its main contribution lies in a systematic analysis of Peru, Bolivia and Colombia, countries that are often overlooked. As such, the book provides a truly regional overview of the complex set of issues affecting the future of the rainforest and the global climate."Raoni Rajão, Associate Professor in Environmental Management, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)

• 1. Introduction 2. Brazil: The Exterminator of the Future 3. Peru: Hostage to the "Master" of Economy and Finance and Lost in Fragmentation 4. Bolivia: Between the Rights of Mother Earth and Agro-Extractivism 5. Colombia: A (Minimalist) Peace Worse than War 6. Conclusion Appendix A