Can Lula save the Amazon – and the climate?

He is one of the most sought-after participants at the UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt this week: Brazil’s future President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – also known as Lula.

In his election campaign, he promised to stop deforestation in the Amazon region. The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, 60 percent is in Brazil. It regulates the climate and above all the precipitation on the entire American continent. All in the region depend on the associated water sources.

But around 20 percent of the Amazon area has disappeared since 1970. The reasons: Illegal deforestation and slash and burn – mainly to free up more land for cattle breeding and soybean fields. Environmentalists are sounding the alarm: Once a gigantic carbon sink, the Amazon now emits more CO2 than it absorbs.

During Lula’s previous tenure from 2003 to 2010, his left-leaning government managed to reduce deforestation by an estimated 67 percent. But much of that was undone by his successor, climate skeptic Jair Bolsonaro. Deforestation rates rose rapidly under Bolsonaro. In 2020, the loss of huge forest areas led to an almost ten percent increase in Brazilian CO2 emissions compared to the previous year.

Lula has now pledged not only to end illegal logging, as he did during his first term, but all forms of logging. He will also ensure that the land rights of indigenous peoples are protected, whose rights have been trampled on by illegal loggers, mine operators and land squatters under Bolsonaro. “Brazil and the planet need a living Amazon,” Lula declared after his election victory.

Follow Lula’s climate rhetoric into action?

Ahead of his trip to Egypt, Brazil’s next president said he plans to hold more talks there with other politicians on climate solutions than his predecessor Bolsonaro did in his entire four-year tenure.

Solutions to stop the illegal destruction of the Amazon must be a key focus of these talks, say climate activists. Shortly after the election, Maria Laura Canineu, Brazil director of human rights organization Human Rights Watch, demanded that Lula detail how he intends to uphold the rule of law in the Amazon and better protect the forest and its defenders.

Puyr Tembe, who represents the Teneteara indigenous people at the climate change conference, is demanding that Lula “fulfill his campaign promises” to stop deforestation and protect the land of indigenous groups. “Brazil can be a role model for other countries,” Tembe told DW.

Lula has announced that he will strengthen global cooperation with US climate chief John Kerry to save the Amazon. According to the Brazilian newspaper “O Globo”, he plans to invite the 30th UN climate conference to Brazil in 2025.

Lula’s former – and presumably future – Environment Minister, Marina Silva, has held various talks at the UN summit. During the conference, she told the Brazilian newspaper “O Estado de S. Paulo” that Lula’s party once ensured that 80 percent of today’s globally protected forest areas were placed under protection. The world wants Brazil to put themselves back into that leadership role now, Silva said. After talks with Kerry and World Bank directors last week, she said there was a renewed will to invest in Brazil.

This also includes the resumption of negotiations on the Mercosur agreement with the European Union. This trade agreement with Latin American countries also includes comprehensive climate commitments.

Germany wants to revive the Amazon fund

In Sharm el Sheikh, Lula wants to revive the coalition that pledged years ago to stop illegal logging in Brazil. However, under Bolsonaro it collapsed. Marina Silva has already started doing this – and asked the USA to join the Amazon Fund, which was set up in 2008 together with Germany and Norway.

Germany and Norway have already announced that they will release funds for the Amazon Protection Fund. The two countries stopped payments in 2019 after Bolsonaro weakened environmental protection measures in the Amazon.

Under Bolsonaro, illegal deforestation led to violence against the indigenous people and the state then criminalized local resistance, according to Teneteara representative Tembe. “Lula’s arrival in office is the rebirth of hope, the rebirth of peace in our territories and the rebirth of a greener worldview compared to what we have in Brazil today,” Tembe said.

Editorial assistance: Samantha Baker.
This article has been adapted from English.