When it came to the Amazon, his predecessor was all for ‘chop, baby, chop’.
An easy act to follow if you’re hosting the world for a climate summit. Since the return as Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, deforestation has continued but drastically slowed in what’s by far the world’s largest rain forest. But by bringing the United Nations COP 30 summit to the Amazonia city of Belem, Lula also drawing attention to Brazil’s broader track record on the environment.
The South American powerhouse may boast of an electricity grid 90-percent powered by renewables, but last month, it also approved drilling for offshore oil across from the mouth of the Amazon River. Lula’s defiant, arguing it’s all with an eye to financing green investment and funding social programs for the poor. A balanced approach or a sellout?
