Lula and Biden face a historic opportunity to protect the Amazon

Trees lie in an area of recent deforestation identified by agents of the Chico Mendes Institute in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre state, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Brazil’s incoming president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has promised to eliminate all deforestation by 2030, which would be a complete change of course for Brazil compared to the last four years. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva (known simply as Lula) are scheduled to meet in Washington, D.C., next week at a time of great political polarization in both the United States and Brazil. But those profound divides are not the only existential threat to their nations and the wider world in which they are both among the most important leaders. Both presidents must do their utmost to slow and ultimately halt and reverse the global climate and biodiversity crises that threaten and are already damaging the security and well-being of their citizens. These two leaders are uniquely positioned to address these crises in the Amazon region. No one should underestimate the size of this challenge. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s government dismantled environmental law enforcement capacities in the Amazon. As […]

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