President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has told the world that “Brazil is back” at Cop27, vowing to begin undoing the environmental destruction seen under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and work towards zero deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Followed by a carnival atmosphere wherever he went on Wednesday, Lula told the climate summit that his administration would go further than ever before on the environment by cracking down on illegal gold mining, logging and agricultural expansion, and restoring climate-critical ecosystems.
In his first big overseas speech since winning election, Lula said Brazil did not need to clear another hectare of rainforest to be a major agricultural producer, and he would use his presidency to demand that rich countries deliver on their promise of $100bn of climate finance for developing countries and to create a fund for loss and damage compensation.
Punctuated by chants of “olé, olé, olé, ola, Lula, Lula”, the president-elect’s speech brought a much-needed feeling of hope to Cop27.
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