Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to (1) the government of Brazil, and (2) international partners, to ensure that any proposals to complete Brazil’s federal highway BR-319 from Manaus, Amazonas to Porto Velho, Rondônia, will not result in increased deforestation in the Amazon by criminal gangs.

The UK regularly engages with Brazil on deforestation in the Amazon, both at Federal and State levels, bilaterally and with international partners, as well as with the private sector and civil society. The UK will continue to convey to Brazil the importance of respecting its own environmental licensing processes, including on major infrastructure projects. We follow the deforestation situation in Brazil closely and will continue to raise our concerns regarding any project that could intensify forest loss.

While we remain concerned by the rising rates of deforestation in the Amazon, we were pleased to welcome Brazil's positive commitments at COP26. Brazil signed the Forest and Land Use pledge and committed to eliminating illegal deforestation by 2028, and to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. The UK will support this and other climate commitments by doubling our International Climate Finance to £11.6 billion over the next five years - we will be investing at least £3 billion of this in solutions that protect and restore nature. The introduction of world-leading due diligence legislation through the Environment Bill will also tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.