More than the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the main reason for celebration for Brazil’s environmentalists after October’s elections was the defeat of President Jair Bolsonaro and his government’s chaotic and hands-off approach to preservation.
Ever since the election campaign in 2018, Mr. Bolsonaro has shown the population that he cares not for environmental concerns. His government put that into practice, gutting environmental oversight agencies, cutting funding to the bone, dissuading fines for environmental crimes, packing agencies with allies, shunning any new indigenous land demarcations, and questioning official deforestation figures.
The Bolsonaro government became impossible for the international community to work with, as the president distributed blame to previous administrations, multilateral institutions, and foreign governments — who he claims want to “steal” the Amazon, instead of protecting it.
The election of Lula brings change in this regard. His previous time in office was largely positive in environmental terms, though definitely not perfect. But in replacing Mr. Bolsonaro, Lula has plenty of incentives to make climate issues and the environment central to his administration.
With this in mind, Lula even accepted an invite to attend the UN’s COP27 climate change conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt — despite not even being in office yet. The signal was clear, no-one on the global stage wants to work with Mr. Bolsonaro, and they all want to speak with Lula.
After delivering a speech at COP27, Lula was met with a chorus chanting “Brazil is back!” — a damning indictment of the absent Mr. Bolsonaro, but a glowing show of optimism behind President-elect Lula.
COP27 merely marked Lula’s return to the international stage, but he will have much work ahead of him if he is to make good on his promises.
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