[Mobius01]

This argument is entirely pointless. You’re proposing to purchase land - crucial natural resource - from a sovereign nation(s). I can’t begin to imagine what a fair price would be, if there is such a thing. 300 trillion dollars? Who would pay? The rich nation taxpayers? Would the population of these benefactors countries be happy with increased taxation for no direct impact in their lives? Private investors? What would they recoup their investment from,, “responsible” exploration of the land they are ostensibly saving? Not to mention the political and cultural implications of attempting to buy a resource from a nation, after the purchasers have used up their own for economical and geopolitical gain. I ask for forgiveness if the tone of this message is overly cynical, but we are past the point of thought exercises over the fate of this planet.

If a solution to preserve the Amazon is to be found, that will involve helping Brazil rise above the cesspool of corruption that its been steeped in for the past decades. Assistance with education and economic incentives for alternatives to heavy reliance on beef and grain exports. Heavy tariffs or outright ban of these products on the international markets. Punish the large agricultural and cattle business that are decimating the forest for gain, give the people alternatives for subsistence. Until that happens, little will change.

[chaostheory]

It’s not a pointless argument if voters agree. Nations don’t necessarily have to buy the land, but regular payments to Brazil to give them a reason to maintain the rain forest as opposed to burning it is a reasonable proposal. It’s better than just complaining about it.

[mrpopo]

See the Amazon Fund project, mainly funded by Norway, where donations are invested to fight against deforestation.

http://www.amazonfund.gov.br/en/home/

Unless it gets 100x bigger, this is a drop in the ocean, though. A lot more money could be made by exploiting that land.

[tdsamardzhiev]

No, it's pointless. Sinking more money into the black hole that is Brazil's corrupt government? What's next? How about regular payments to US and Russia so they have a reason to maintain their nuclear weapons instead of just using them?

[chaostheory]

I think we did do that for a time when Russia was unstable, post USSR, to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on nuclear weapons.

Also we can keep Brazil honest via satellite imaging. More burning? No more money

[StreamBright]

>> Sinking more money into the black hole that is Brazil's corrupt government?

Given the history of Brazil, you meant governments I guess.

[Myrmornis]

Any such proposal is considered by many Brazilians to be patronizing a sovereign nation.

[chaostheory]

Sure, but the international community just complaining hasn’t yielded the best results. The reason the rain forest is burning is for economic reasons. Similarly, I don’t see why the international committee can’t provide economic reasons to preserve it if it’s that important

[Myrmornis]

Yes, I do understand what you're saying and I wish/hope it happens. I wonder if the answer to your implicit question is that the degree of economic incentive that would be necessary to persuade Brazil to agree to something that it considers demeaning would be so great that it is either (a) unrealistic to imagine funding it as others have suggested elsewhere in this comment thread, or (b) would verge on economic aggression (i.e. persuading someone to do something they would rather not via financial means is of course not always considered ethical, even by the most red blooded free-marketeers.)

[chaostheory]

A) It’s not unrealistic. Just recently France have offered 20 million for assistance for the rainforest. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the US made payments to Russia when it was unstable to help it secure its nuclear inventory

B) I’m not sure that offering aid is “aggressive” vs economic sanctions or IMF loans

My comments are more critical of developed nations rather than Brazil.

[Myrmornis]

OK, but 20 million??? Brazil is a huge industrialized nation! The Amazon is basically the entire northern one third of the country! That figure has to be several orders of magnitude off. OK, here's an absurdly crude and possibly buggy attempt which suggests that 20 million is out by a factor of tens of thousands:

  # https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest
  amazon_area = 5.5e6  # km^2
  fraction_brazilian = 0.6  # 60%
  # http://www.buybrazilland.com/rainforest-property-for-sale/
  price_per_acre = 1000

  acres_per_sq_km = 247.105
  brazil_amazon_price = amazon_area * fraction_brazilian * 
  acres_per_sq_km * price_per_acre

  => $815,446,500,000.0

  brazil_amazon_price / 20e6
  => 40772.325

[ptah]

are you implying that foreigners are not allowed to buy land in brazil?

[WilliamEdward]

Land has been bought before on this scale and for quite cheap, see: Alaska, Louisiana.