A Win for The Planet

A Victory for The Planet

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeating Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Jair Bolsonaro, and winning a fourth term as President of Brazil means a lot of things — it’s a credit to André Janones organizing millions on WhatsApp to push back against a platform whose own employees acknowledged in internal messages that Lula’s accounts were restricted while Flávio’s profile was being recommended (though that wasn’t all Janones asked Brazilians to do); it’s a result against the far-right; and it’s a victory for the planet.

Since Lula returned to office in 2023, Amazon deforestation has fallen about 71%, and the most recent year’s clearing was the lowest since records began in 1988. Lula has pledged to end illegal deforestation by 2030.

This is important not just for the High Country but the world. To maintain the health of the Amazon means that we keep one of the planet’s largest carbon stores and rainmakers active and alive. No Amazon means a hotter, dryer world.

But there remains a crucial point to make to an American audience: just because Brazilians have voted does it now mean their work is done. Fire, degradation, and logging still pose a threat to the Amazon. But there is reasonable reason to think that Sunday’s vote helped: though Flávio Bolsonaro had spoken of ending illegal deforestation by 2029, he — as a Senator — voted for the licensing law critics called the “law of devastation,” which researchers like Philip Fearnside argued would reward illegal land-grabbing. Lula isn’t perfect (a highway through the rainforest, Lula? Seriamente?), but a government committed to enforcement when it comes to the health of the planet quite literally makes a world of difference.