Five months in, and we’re now starting to get a pretty good picture of what the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government is going to look like.
Between the October election and the January inauguration, everything seemed rosy for the incoming government. Lula seemed to have built something of a progressive rainbow coalition, promising advances for marginalized populations. An Indigenous Peoples Ministry was to be created, and the cabinet no longer looked so white and male-dominated.
And Lula made big promises on the environment front, even upstaging the existing government by turning up to COP27 as president-elect in November.
All the while, there was a certain expectation that, once in office, a conservative Congress would allow Lula to pursue these goals, providing their interests were met with parliamentary grants, and concessions in fiscal and tax reform bills.
The reality, however, has been quite different.
At least for international audiences, Lula’s environment promises were among the most important facets of his campaign. And less than half a year on, there are fears that much of these pledges were empty words.
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This week’s podcast is supported by Dal Pozzo Advogados. Dal Pozzo represents some of Brazil’s biggest infrastructure groups and helps foreign clients navigate the country’s complicated legal and regulatory system.
This episode used music from Uppbeat. License codes: Aspire by Pryces (B6TUQLVYOWVKY02S). Carpenter by Doug Organ (8WGNDTYVLN8SMMPX). Freak Show by Weary Pines (GM3DVXRIQ0U5UQHG).
In this episode:
- Natalie Unterstell is head of climate policy think tank Talanoa Institute. She works on international, national, subnational and field levels to shape public policies for net zero emissions, and resilient and sustainable development. She seeks leapfrogging policies and transformation, not just incremental changes.
Background reading:
- We explain why a Petrobras proposal to drill for oil near the Amazon could lead to Environment Minister Marina Silva leaving the Lula administration.
- Brazil’s lower house approved a controversial proposal setting a cutoff date for indigenous communities to claim land rights. The Supreme Court is close to holding a trial on the same issue — and should rule in the opposite direction.
- Amazon deforestation rates are gradually improving at the start of the Lula government, but are a very long way from ideal. Experts blame the “cursed legacy” left by former President Jair Bolsonaro.
- Mr. Bolsonaro oversaw an environmental policy marred by widespread forest destruction, reduced oversight, and incentive for environmental crime, which gave new meaning to the term “scorched earth.”
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