BREAKING NEWS: Lula Victory In Brazilian Election And What It Might Mean For Our Rainforests
We are back with a quick update on the 2022 Brazilian elections and a brief discussion of some of the implications.
The Facts
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, “Lula” will be the country’s next president, officials confirmed, after Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court declared Lula the next president, with 50.9% of votes versus 49.1% for Jair Bolsonaro[1].
A long and bitter campaign between the former president, Lula, and current president, Bolsonaro, culminated in election results yesterday evening.
According to the NY Times, this constitutes a rejection of Bolsonaro’s far-right movement and his divisive four years in office[2].
During his presidency, Bolsonaro attracted global attention for policies that accelerated the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and exacerbated the pandemic[3].
Lula led Brazil during its boom in the first decade of the century but was later convicted on corruption charges and spent 580 days in prison. Last year, the Supreme Court threw out those convictions, ruling that the judge in his cases was biased[4].
Implications for the Rainforest
Often referred to as “the lungs of the Earth,” the Amazon rainforest produces between 6 and 9 percent of the world’s total oxygen and functions as a “carbon sink” by absorbing more carbon than it emits[5].
In August, scientists warned that “the world’s largest rain forest is approaching a critical tipping point past which there could be severe, irreversible consequences for the planet”[6]. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research shows that more than 3,980 square kilometers of the Amazon were cleared in the first six months of 2022, the highest figure in at least six years.
During his presidency, Bolsonaro championed industries that extract the forest’s resources while slashing funds and staffing for the agencies tasked with protecting it.
Source: BBC
Lula has promised to overturn Bolsonaro's policies related to pro-gun measures and weak protection of the Amazon rainforest. Specifically, he campaigned on a promise to eradicate illegal mining and logging. An analysis by Carbon Brief suggests that by Bolsonaro losing to Lula, annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon could be down by nearly 90 percent by the end of the decade.
Source: Vox
According to Reuters, Lula will send representatives to next month's COP27 United Nations climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt[7].
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-votes-heated-bolsonaro-vs-lula-presidential-runoff-2022-10-30/
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/30/world/brazil-presidential-election
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/30/world/brazil-presidential-election
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/30/world/brazil-presidential-election
[5] https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/deforestation-brazils-amazon-has-reached-record-high-whats-being-done
[6] https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/deforestation-brazils-amazon-has-reached-record-high-whats-being-done
[7] https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/lula-wins-brazilian-election-bolsonaro-has-not-conceded-2022-10-31/