Brazilian Agribusiness and the Ongoing Planetary Ecocide
Abstract
The agro-export system of commodities is responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Besides being a major source of organism intoxication through the increasing use of pesticides, this system is primarily responsible for the ongoing annihilation of biomass and biodiversity. This article examines Brazil’s insertion into this highly globalized system. As the world’s largest consumer of pesticides, Brazilian agribusiness has been committing the greatest ecocide against our planet's biosphere since 1970. The ongoing destruction of the biosphere deepens national and international inequalities, accelerates imbalances in the Earth system, and increases climate, water, food, and health insecurity on a global scale. The article proposes four programmatic points for a political agenda capable of confronting the imminent existential threats looming over our societies.
Submitted: Dec. 16, 2025 | Accepted: Jan. 15, 2026 | Published May 21, 2026 | Language: en
Keywords Food insecurity • Biodiversity loss • North-South inequalities • European Union-Mercosur Agreement • Wildfires • Pesticides • Ecocide
Copyright © 2026 Luiz Marques. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/INQ/3035-0395/2026/03/011