Jair Bolsonaro has been defeated in the Brazilian election against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (“Lula”) to the rejoicing of scientists, environmentalists, and human rights activists in Brazil and beyond. What happens in South America’s largest country is globally significant since, among other reasons, the country contains most of the world’s largest tropical forest.
Under Lula, Brazil was able to reduce deforestation in the Amazon by 84% between 2004 to 2013 and expand indigenous rights and protection. Lula promised in his acceptance speech to work toward zero deforestation in the Amazon and to protect indigenous areas from the encroachment of mining companies and other interests. Great news.
Dozens of countries and hundreds of companies and financial actors have already made bold commitments to halt deforestation. For example, Unilever aims to achieve zero conversion of native ecosystems for palm oil, paper and board, tea, soy and cocoa by the end of 2023.
