Jair Bolsonaro will sit as president until January 1, after which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will take over as leader of the country.

During this transition period, the Norwegian government will contact Lula’s transition team to continue rainforest cooperation, said Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap).

– We will talk to the people to prepare the formalities and get the management structure. There is a large amount of funds frozen in Amazon Fund accounts in Brazil, which can be paid out quickly, Barth Eide told NTB.

Cut support in 2019

After Bolsonaro came to power in 2019, deforestation in the Brazilian part of the Amazon increased sharply. Bolsonaro has cut environmental measures and made it clear he wants agriculture and other commercial activities in areas where there are currently rainforests.

Bolsonaro’s priorities led to Norway and Germany cutting environmental support to Brazil in the summer of 2019.

– There has been a huge increase in deforestation under Bolsonaro, which is very worrying. Everyone concerned about the climate has seen painfully how he completely ignores old treaties and promises, says Barth Eide.

– Important day

Lula won with nearly 51 percent of the vote against Bolsonaro’s 49 percent in the second round of Sunday’s presidential election.

Lula was also the country’s president between 2003 and 2010. He will now begin his third four-year term. The 77-year-old has made big promises, including that Brazil will take back its place in the fight against the climate crisis, especially when it comes to the Amazon rainforest.

He has also set an ambitious zero deforestation goal.

– It’s an important day. This is good for Brazil, but also for the rest of the world, said Barth Eide.

– Then the president doesn’t rule alone, neither does Lula. It would be like when Biden wins an election in the United States, he takes over a country with a complicated political landscape to navigate, he said.

Climate summit in Egypt

In less than a week, heads of state and government will convene at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, and Barth Eid will also be in attendance.

– After all, it is Bolsonaro’s Brazil that will emerge, and we must respect this coming phase of transition. But it is very likely that a signal will be sent from Lula about what to expect when she takes over, the climate minister said.

– Brazil has demanded a lot of international jobs, not just climate. We’re looking forward to a slightly different tone.

carbon stock

The Amazon forest is the largest rainforest in the world. It is considered as an important resource to reduce global warming. A large amount of carbon is stored in forests, and this turns into CO2 when trees are burned.

Evaporated water from the Amazon rainforest moves with air currents and contributes to distant precipitation. In addition, forests are a habitat for a large number of animal and plant species.

Deforestation in the Brazilian part of the Amazon has reached high levels under Bolsonaro. In parts of the Brazilian Amazon, an average of 111 hectares disappeared every hour last year. The rate of deforestation is related to the cutting of 18 trees per second.

(© NTB)