Brasilia - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday advocated the environmentally-friendly production and use of biofuels in a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia, at the start of Merkel's first Latin American tour. Amid criticism of ethanol production from Europe and also from within Brazil, Merkel stressed that biofuels and the preservation of the Amazon rainforest should not be mutually-exclusive. Critics cite ethanol's impact on food prices and deforestation caused by encroaching farmland.
Lula said after his meeting with Merkel that the production of ethanol has no negative consequences for the environment.
An agreement for cooperation on renewable energy is at the centre of the German chancellor's trip to Brazil, but the Roman Catholic Church and environmental organizations have criticized the deal because it lacks sufficient emphasis on the working conditions of sugar cane plantation workers and on the protection of the rainforest.
Lula invited the international community to attend a biofuel conference in November in Brazil, and stressed that the South American giant is ready to answer questions regarding the protection of the environment, including that biofuels are produced at the expense of foodstuffs.
Merkel offered to cooperate with Brazil to solve any pending questions, even as criticism to the agreement that the German chancellor was to sign in Brazil mounted in Germany.
The Brazilian federal government countered that German help would lead to progress in the production of ethanol in coming years without having to resort to clearing rainforest areas.
The German delegation further stressed that food production would not suffer as a result of the deal.
Green Party politicians accompanying Merkel on her trip demanded that the planned agreement be improved for the sake of the environment.
Lula stressed that the rate of clearing of the rainforest has decreased greatly in recent years.
Brazil only approved at the last minute the creation of a binational task force which could also discuss labour conditions at sugar cane plantations for the production of ethanol.
Many workers are said to obtain extremely low wages, and leaders of the Brazilian trade union of rural workers and of the Roman Catholic Church underlined their poor working conditions in their meeting with Merkel, sources in the German delegation said.
Lula countered that small-scale producers particularly benefit from the production of biofuels.
Aid organizations, like Bread for the World and Oxfam, also warned Wednesday in a joint statement of the dangers of biofuel production. They said in a statement that according to various research projects the production of biofuels often involves severe human rights violations, rises in the price of foodstuffs and the destruction of the rainforest.
Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva - a historic activist in the defence of the Amazon rainforest - resigned Tuesday without making her reasons public. On Wednesday, environmental activist Carlos Minc - who was active in his youth in the armed struggle against the Brazilian dictatorship from 1964-85 - was designated to succeed her.
"Brazil's environmental policy will not change. Comrade Marina is gone, but the policy continues," Lula stressed after meeting with Merkel.
However, environmental activists tended to disagree. Jose Cardoso da Silva, vice president for South America of Conservation International, defined her exit as "a disaster for the Lula government."
Brazil is the world's second-largest producer of ethanol, after the United States, but produces its variant from sugar cane rather than the less energy-efficient corn used by the North American nation. Between them, the two countries produce more than 70 per cent of the world's ethanol.
Both Merkel and Lula are set to attend the European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean summit on Friday and Saturday in Lima.
