Brazil's environmental costs are impacting GDP, warns economist

Economist Eduardo Giannetti da Fonseca has warned that environmental costs are already impacting Brazil's GDP and must be integrated into economic planning. Speaking at the Encontro Futuro Vivo in São Paulo, Fonseca argued that traditional Western models of prosperity no longer guarantee improved human well-being once certain income levels are reached.

He emphasized that climate change and resource depletion are not merely externalities but central economic factors. According to World Bank data, droughts and floods currently cost Brazil approximately R$ 13 billion annually. Furthermore, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) projects that reaching a tipping point in the Amazon could reduce Brazil's GDP by R$ 920 billion, or 9.7% of the total, by 2050.