Brazil

In early 2020, the world was faced with an – until then – unknown virus: Covid-19. Same as the governmental reactions to the pandemic, its impact on the political and societal situation differ from country to country. This dossier sheds light on the situation in Brazil, Kosovo, Morocco, Nigeria, the Philippines and Ukraine, focusing especially on the impacts to the health systems and democratic institutions and the situation of women and girls in the respective countries.

The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement raises numerous concerns about environmental and social impacts. Four factsheets by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) dissect the implications of this agreement for climate, food safety, pesticides and public procurement.

Since Jair Bolsonaro took up office as President of Brazil in January 2019, deforestation rates have curved steeply upwards once again. But it should be borne in mind that even under previous presidents, from Lula to Temer, and even with enormous global awareness of the importance of tropical forests and many national and international efforts, deforestation has never been halted altogether.