{"id":47271,"date":"2022-10-03T18:03:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T17:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=47271"},"modified":"2022-10-04T09:28:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T08:28:06","slug":"brazil-congress-right-environmentalists-hopes-lula-climate-amazon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/10\/03\/brazil-congress-right-environmentalists-hopes-lula-climate-amazon\/","title":{"rendered":"As Brazil’s Congress swings further right, environmentalists pin hopes on Lula"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fate of the Amazon rainforest hangs in the balance as president Jair Bolsonaro outperformed the polls in Brazil\u2019s election on Sunday, sending the race to a runoff against leftist rival Luiz In\u00e1cio \u201cLula\u201d da Silva. <\/strong><\/p>\n

After consistently leading in the polls against the far-right incumbent, challenger Lula, the 76-year-old former president who was first elected 20 years ago, came out on top with 48% of the votes.<\/p>\n

The outcome<\/a> wasn\u2019t the outright majority Lula\u2019s supporters had hoped would lead the former union leader to win in a single round.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s supporters celebrated a victory. With 43% of the votes, Bolsonaro performed better in all of Brazil\u2019s 27 states than Ipec, one of Brazil\u2019s largest polling firms, had predicted.<\/p>\n

The results mean the election will go to a runoff on 30 October in one of the world\u2019s most consequential elections ever for the climate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Sunday\u2019s vote saw a surge in pro-Bolsonaro lawmakers<\/a>\u00a0enter the national Congress, which remains dominated by right-wing forces.<\/p>\n

Brazilian climate analysts say the Congress makeup will remain a major obstacle for passing new climate and conservation policies. But a Lula win at the end of the month would have a greater impact in undoing four years of destructive policies<\/a> in the Amazon.<\/p>\n

Brazil election<\/strong>: Lula challenges Bolsonaro\u2019s deforestation record, backs oil development<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Climate and rainforest conservation issues have emerged as major issues in one of Brazil\u2019s most polarised campaigns.<\/p>\n

Both Lula and Bolsonaro plan to increase Brazil\u2019s oil and gas production and proposed measures to halt deforestation<\/a> to attract voters.<\/p>\n

But Bolsonaro\u2019s deforestation record and attacks on the rights of indigenous peoples, environmental and human right defenders, tell a radically different story. Under his term, deforestation in the Amazon rose to a 12-year high.<\/p>\n

In contrast, deforestation fell sharply<\/a> from a 2004 peak when Lula was in power from 2003 to 2010. Carlos Rittl, a Brazilian senior policy advisor at the Rainforest Foundation in Norway cited cross-government coordination, the creation of protected areas and the demarcation of indigenous reserves for the drop in forest clearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be an abyss of difference between what we can expect from Lula\u2019s government and Bolsonaro\u2019s. Bolsonaro is a carbon bomb. With Lula, there is hope that the main problems that Brazil is facing will be addressed,\u201d said Rittl.<\/p>\n