The News
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon dropped to its lowest level in nearly a decade over the past year, officials said Wednesday, in a win for Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva who campaigned on promises of reversing the anti-climate policies of his predecessor.
The rate of deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest fell 30.6% year-on-year in the 12 months to July, officials said, the lowest level since 2015. The Amazon is crucial to protecting the planet from the effects of climate change because of the amount of carbon dioxide its trees absorb.
However, critics say Lula has failed to deliver on many of his environmental promises and has supported initiatives detrimental to the Amazon’s health, according to the Associated Press, such as building new highways and oil drilling at the mouth of the Amazon river.
With the reelection of US President Donald Trump, the world is now looking to Lula as a foil to an expected climate-unfriendly administration in the US — but Trump’s return could galvanize former president Jair Bolsonaro’s growing right-wing movement.
SIGNALS
Lula seen as failing to deliver on climate promises
Lula pledged to resume Brazil’s “protagonist role” in the climate arena following the presidency of climate change skeptic Bolsonaro, environmental news site Mongabay wrote. But the current government is also “full of contradictions,” one climate researcher said, as it navigates the economic realities of Brazil’s oil-rich economy. Since taking office, Lula’s administration has reduced the energy transition portion of its 2025 budget by 20%, has failed to present nationally determined contributions — or how much Brazil plans to cut emissions by, as required by the Paris Agreement — and plans to make Brazil the world’s fourth-largest oil producer by 2029. “We’re still in a rhythm of expansion, not transition,” the researcher said.
Addressing poverty is key to reducing Amazonian deforestation
The primary cause of Amazonian deforestation is poverty, according to Bloomberg: Of the 28 million Brazilians living in the Amazon, 11.8 million live in extreme poverty, with many subsistence farmers forced to burn sections of rainforest to plant crops to feed their families. The Brazilian government has historically used the Amazon Fund — an internationally supported investment budget — to support sustainable micro-economies that don’t damage the rainforest. Foreign donors who suspended contributions in protest at the Bolsonaro administration have resumed donations, but critics say they still fall short of the amount needed to address the Amazon’s poverty crisis — particularly in more densely populated regions. “We talk a lot about the climate emergency, but there is a social emergency in the Amazon territory,” one investment banker said.
Brazil climate minister says will pressure Trump on climate
Brazil will pressure the incoming Trump administration to adopt stricter climate policies, the country’s climate minister said, but growing momentum among the country’s right-wing could threaten these efforts. Marina Silva told CNN Brasil she was optimistic a second Trump presidency would be “completely different” than the first, with global investors now keener to fund renewable energy projects, and politicians more aware of extreme weather events such as Hurricanes Milton and Helene. However, Brasilia’s ability to pressure Washington could change if Brazilian politics shift to the right. While Bolsonaro is barred from office until 2030 over an abuse of power case, his allies “now have real power at federal and state levels,” The New York Times wrote, and Trump’s reelection may “place their movement on surer footing.”