RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian voters ousted the president on Sunday Jair Bolsonaro.
In the elections closest since the return to democracy in 1985, voters decided to bring the former president back to life Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvawho made the climate a cornerstone of his campaign.
“Brazil is ready to resume its leading role in the fight against the climate crisis,” da Silva told supporters in his victory speech on Sunday.
“We will prove once again that it is possible generate wealth without destroying environment”.
The compromise is important because Brazil contains a large part of the Amazon rainforest.
At this time, the forest absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which warms the planet and stores it in tree roots, branches and soil.
According to one estimate, there are 150 to 200 billion tons of carbon locked up in the forest.
But that could change.
If deforestation continues, the rainforest could soon become a transmitter net of greenhouse gases.
The region is also one of the most biodiverse places in the world on Earth and protecting it is the key to fending off a global biodiversity crisis.
At home: back to the fight against deforestation
When da Silva first took office in 2003, deforestation rates were more than double what they are today.
It has enacted policies that have reduced them by 80%.
The lowest rate of deforestation was recorded two years after of his resignation in 2010.
When Bolsonaro took office in 2019, cut the funds for environmental protection agencies, it made it easier to ignore environmental fines and encouraged its supporters to continue illegal mining.
Deforestation rates have started to skyrocket again. Brazil lost more than 31,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest between 2019 and 2021.
Now, da Silva says he intends to resume policies that have reduced forest loss.
“Now we will fight for the zero deforestation in the Amazon, “he said.
“Brazil and the planet need a Living Amazon“.
But the challenge to forest protection policies is likely to be strong among Bolsonaro’s supporters both in Congress and in the Amazon.
He has won in more than half of the states that make up the jungle.
Bolsonaro has long defended the logging, mining and livestock industries.
Although destructive to the forest, these industries often operate illegallythey also provide some of the few economic opportunities in the region.
Abroad: a focus on the South of the world
Da Silva’s two terms as president, from 2003 to 2010, have been characterized by efforts to reform world governing bodies, such as the United Nations Security Council, and to raise the profile of developing countries in international affairs. .
There are signs he might once again make those efforts a prioritythis time with particular attention to climate problems.
It can “mobilize other countries in the global South to argue that any reform of global governance takes climate seriously but also has the contribution of developing countries,” said Adriana Abdenur, who directs Cipo platforma research organization in Brazil that focuses on climate policy.
Months before the election, da Silva’s councilors were coordinating with Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to help pressure rich nations to get more funding to protect forests.
Marina Silva, his former environment minister, told Reuters Monday that Da Silva would send a representative to the COP27the world climate summit starting Sunday in Egypt.
A spokesperson for da Silva said the matter was still being decided.
Da Silva’s top foreign affairs advisor, Celso Amorimhe said the president-elect also plans to invite regional leaders to an Amazon rainforest summit in 2023.
It is a sign that he intends to strengthen the Organization of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, which could help the countries of the region. come together to devise strategies to protect the forest and attract foreign investment for projects of Sustainable Development.
When da Silva was president, Brazil created one of the most important mechanisms for climate cooperation in forest management, the Amazon Fund.
From 2009 to 2019, Norway and Germany donated more than 1.2 billions of dollars to the fund, which has become one of the most important funding mechanisms for environmental protection agencies in Brazil.
Bolsonaro dissolved the fund’s governing body, which froze all its operations, even as his government struggled to fight environmental crimes.
On Sunday, the Norwegian climate and environment minister told reporters that he would contact da Silva to resume cooperation between the two countries.
Da Silva is expected to take office on January 1st.
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Source: Clarin
