Episode details
Available for over a year
Brazil's new president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has promised to reverse the environmental damage wrought by his predecessor and reach "zero deforestation" in the Amazon by 2030. This week, the US special climate envoy John Kerry is in Brazil for talks with the Lula administration. Ricardo Galvao, president of Brazil's National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and part of Lula's transition team, explains how important US collaboration is in achieving their policies. "I hope and the Brazilian population hopes that the Americans will collaborate strongly with Lula and take measures to preserve the Amazon rainforest, specifically with putting funds in the Amazon fund" says Mr Galvao. "It's not just money but policy also... a lot of the wood that goes out of the Amazon is exported to America and Europe. It's a question of attitude towards preserving the Amazon rainforest" he says. "If we go to deforestation of 25% of the area of the Amazon, not only Brazilian rainforest but South American rainforest...then we are going to reach the tipping point, and we have deforested already 20%" he says (Photo: An agent from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) burns the machinery of an illegal mine, during an operation by the Brazilian authorities against deforestation and illegal mining, near Itaituba, Brasil, 14 February 2023. Credit: Andre Borges/EPA/EFE/Rex/Shutterstock)
Programme Website