Visit to Brazil, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes 30. Pesticides prohibited by other countries because of environmental or health risks remain in use in Brazil.54 Thirty percent of active ingredients (116 of 393 substances) in Brazil are not approved in the EU.55 Positive steps were taken in 2017 by ANVISA to ban the production, import, marketing and use of paraquat from September 2020.56 However, this decision has yet to be enforced. 31. Brazil’s drive to further expand agricultural production in recent years has not been met with equal measure to reduce pesticide use.57 To the contrary, in terms of the number of formulations approved and volume applied, the trend of pesticide use in Brazil is of grave concern. In 2019 alone, Brazil permitted the introduction of 474 new pesticide products, 58 which several authorities noted would compound pre-existing monitoring deficiencies in the country. While the Government points to improved and more rigorous risks assessments since 2011, as well as shared competencies across ministries, recent reports regarding deregulatory efforts by certain ministers, the apparent unwillingness to apply a precautionary approach, and legislative proposals, such as the “poison package,”59 that appear to concentrate regulatory decision-making powers in pro-business authorities, paint a troubling picture of eroding governance. Forest fires 32. The Amazon forest, the lungs of the Earth, is a splendour of nature, boasting rich biodiversity, and supporting ecological balance and a stable climate. 60 Without the Amazon, the world would be devastated by the ravages of climate change, killing countless and thrusting millions into destitution. The Amazon is also the home of indigenous peoples and other communities, who are constantly at battle with the strong opposing forces of agribusiness and extractive industries.61 The burning of the Amazon forest presents a catastrophic risk to the human rights of billions of people around the world. 33. Furthermore, air pollution through forest fires releases 67% of PM2.5 emissions in Brazil, which coupled with CO emissions are associated with various diseases and disabilities, including respiratory problems.62 Not only does air pollution increase vulnerability to COVID-19, but the destruction of forest habitat also risks further introduction of zoonotic diseases that can develop into another global pandemic. 63 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 8 Larissa Mies Bombardi (2019) DOI: 10.11606/9788575063590; http://www.livrosabertos.sibi.usp.br/portaldelivrosUSP/catalog/view/352/309/1388-1; CPCAPV et al (April 2020), https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/Studien/Hazardous_20pesticides_ENG_final_202 00422.pdf. ANVISA (July 2020). ANVISA, VOTO Nº 056/2017/DIREG/ANVISA (2017) http://portal.anvisa.gov.br/documents/219201/2782895/Voto+Renato+Paraquate/fa409d90-a5204302-9815-f39b683da509. Bombardi LM. In: Merlino T, Mendonça ML, (2012) p. 75-86 quoted in Wanderlei Antonio Pignati et al (2017) https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S141381232017021003281&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en. CPCAPV et al (April 2020) https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/Studien/Hazardous_20pesticides_ENG_final_202 00422.pdf. BRA 5/2018. UN, Global Sustainable Development Report 2019, p 98 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/24797GSDR_report_2019.pdf. HRW (17 September 2019). Fiocruz https://climaesaude.icict.fiocruz.br/en/tema/air ; Beatriz Fátima Alves de Oliveira et al (2011) https://www.scielo.br/pdf/csp/v27n9/03.pdf; Paula Henriques Blaskievicz et al (2020) https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17061984. FIDH, JnT and Associação Comunitária dos Moradores de Piquiá (March 2020).