The Brazilian dawn of climate politics

Brazil is in the news again. Despite widespread sadness over the death of the legendary King

(Source)[https://images.app.goo.gl/JxW8vvb9vU3pXJAu6]
Pele, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration on January 1 may be celebrated by many more. Scientists, climate activists, anthropologists, democracy watchdogs, and intergovernmental human rights bodies, in particular, are trying out their samba moves in honour of Lula’s return to Brasilia.

The celebrations are with good reason: the prospect of the dieback of the Amazon rainforest, which produces 6–9 per cent of the world’s oxygen and acts as a major carbon sink, constitutes one of nine catastrophic tipping points for the global climate. Alongside the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the thawing of permafrost, the collapse of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and so on, deforestation in tropical rainforests could increase global temperature by up to 1 degree Celsius. Yet between August 1, 2019, and July 31, 2021, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro’s policies had resulted in more than 34,000 square kilometres disappearing from the Amazon — an area larger than Belgium — and a 52 per cent increase in deforestation since before he took office.