Brazilian leader pledges to defeat ‘all crimes’ in Amazon forest

Brasilia, The Gulf Observer: Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has told cheering crowds at the UN climate conference in Egypt that he would crack down on illegal deforestation in the Amazon, reinitiate ties with countries that finance forest protection efforts and push to host an upcoming world climate summit in the rainforest.

Despite a mixed record on the environment and jail time in his resume, the 77-year-old leftist politician drew crowds curious to hear his promises to protect the Amazon rainforest on Wednesday.”Brazil is back,” Lula repeatedly said, words his supporters sang during his speech at the COP27 conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh.

At COP27, Lula vowed to fight deforestation, offered to host UN climate talks in the Amazon region in 2025, and pledged to make Brazil a leader in the global battle against climate crisis again.In two appearances, Lula laid out a vision for managing the world’s largest rainforest, critical to fighting climate crisis, that was in stark contrast to that of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, whose administration witnessed some of the most rapid cutting of forests in decades.”There will be no climate security if the Amazon isn’t protected,” said Lula, adding that all crimes in the forest, from illegal logging to mining, would be cracked down on “without respite.”Adrian Martinez Blanco, who is attending the climate conference for Costa Rican NGO La Ruta del Clima, said, “Lula represents a political change for Latin America.” “It is a shift towards the protection of the planet, the Amazon, human rights, the rights of Indigenous people,” he said.