When the left governs in Brazil, Norwegian aid to Brazil soars. When the bourgeois parties take over, aid falls to the bottom. Norad explains Norwegian aid to Brazil by reference to the preservation of the rainforest. If one is to believe that, it appears that the rainforest is particularly under threat and in need of substantial aid when the socialists are in government.
Norwegian aid to Brazil is on the rise again after the socialist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, popularly known as “Lula”, became president. In 2024, Norwegian aid to Brazil amounted to NOK 925 million. When the conservative Jair Bolsonaro was president (2019–2022), the annual aid from Norway averaged around NOK 200 million.
After Lula won a narrow electoral victory in 2022, with 50.9 per cent of the votes, Norwegian aid to Brazil is once again increasing. The same occurred the previous time the left prevailed.
Ergo, it is costly for Norwegian taxpayers when the socialists hold power in the oil-producing country Brazil, which produces well over twice as much oil as Norway does.
Norwegian aid to Brazil increases when the reds govern, and decreases with the blues. Source: Norad
Norwegian aid to the left
The previous time the socialists governed Brazil was with Dilma Rousseff as president. She belongs to the same party as Lula – Partido dos Trabalhadores, which in Norwegian means “Arbeiderpartiet” (“the Labour Party”).
During her six years in the presidency (2011–2016), Brazil received NOK 8.7 billion through the Norwegian aid budget. This corresponds to more than two-thirds of all aid ever granted to Brazil. In 2013 alone, Brazil received almost NOK 4 billion in aid.
Rousseff was Lula’s hand-picked candidate. He himself could not stand for election in 2010, as the Brazilian Constitution permits a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms.
Rousseff’s presidency ended with impeachment in 2016, after the Senate had found her guilty of breaches of the budgetary laws. Coalition partner and Vice President Michael Temer from the centrist party MDB assumed office and completed the term. At that point, aid dropped a level.
When the bourgeois Jair Bolsonaro won the presidential election and took office in 2019, Norwegian aid fell to a low point.
At the same time, there was a sharp increase in Norwegian aid to Venezuela. In total, Norway has supplied the murderers in Caracas with NOK 459 million in aid as of 2024. 96 per cent of this has been granted after Bolsonaro was elected president of Brazil. The Støre government has further increased aid to Venezuela. The years 2021–2024 alone account for 65 per cent of all aid granted to Venezuela.
Saving the rainforest?
According to Norad, aid to Brazil concerns saving the rainforest. However, the Rainforest Foundation’s (Regnskogfondet) contribution to Brazil constitutes only a fraction of the total aid that Norway has sent to Brazil.
According to Norad’s own database, the Rainforest Foundation (Regnskogfondet) has transferred NOK 589 million in aid to Brazil in the period 1999–2024. This constitutes only 4.7 per cent of the total aid to Brazil in the period.
When Document informs the press duty officer of this, we are told that it is not only the Rainforest Foundation that saves the rainforest in Brazil. When Document asks who else saves the rainforest in Brazil, and requests an explanation of the considerable fluctuations in aid, as shown in the figure above, we are asked to submit the questions by email, which we have done.
The day after we sent the email, we received the following reply:
“We unfortunately do not have time to respond to you today. This is because we must coordinate with KLD, which administers part of the funds you are asking about.”
KLD = the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
Document’s questions
Questions submitted to Norad:
1. Which other organisations, besides the Rainforest Foundation (Regnskogfondet), receive funds from the aid budget to save rainforest in Brazil?
In the period from the turn of the century up to and including 2006, aid to Brazil was relatively moderate, averaging NOK 20 million annually. Funds to Brazil via the Rainforest Foundation (Regnskogfondet) constituted approximately one-third of the total aid to Brazil. Thereafter, something occurs. Particularly in 2009. At that point, aid to Brazil increased to NOK 185 million. Then to NOK 226 million. Subsequently NOK 407 million, NOK 1.2 billion, and almost NOK 4 billion in 2013. The contribution to Brazil via the Rainforest Foundation (Regnskogfondet) was relatively moderate.
2. What is the explanation for this considerable increase in aid to Brazil?
In 2019, aid in Brazil was down to NOK 128 million, from NOK 686 million the year before.
3. What is the cause of this decline?
Thereafter, a moderate development in aid to Brazil is observed, partly driven by increased funds through the Rainforest Foundation (Regnskogfondet). In 2024, aid to Brazil increases once again, substantially, from NOK 320 million in 2023 to a full NOK 925 million in 2024.
4. What is the explanation for the marked increase in aid to Brazil in 2024?
Factual information:
The population of Brazil is 213 million, compared with Norway’s 5.6 million.
Brazil’s oil production is 3.95 million barrels of oil per day, compared with Norway’s production of 1.9 million barrels per day.