In January, researchers in the region published a letter environmental journalism website Sumauma calling on Lula and his administration to investigate and punish crimes and injustices surrounding the dam. Local media said Norte Energia proposed to distribute 20,000 reais (about $4,000) in compensation to nearly 2,000 fishermen. The agency reported last summer that Norte Energia, the dam’s owner, hadn’t respected many of the conditions for its original license. That caused the disappearance of fish - the basis of many Indigenous populations’ subsistence.īelo Monte is back on Lula’s agenda, with Ibama weighing whether to renew its license. One area of concern is the Xingu’s Volta Grande, or Big Bend, which has lost much of its water. Civil society organizations estimate tens of thousands of people were displaced, and experts attribute a local surge of violence to lost jobs. Indigenous populations and environmental campaigners fiercely opposed it, and studies show its impacts have been disastrous. Supporters saw it as a way to generate jobs and add power to Brazil’s grid. The Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, a concrete colossus on the Xingu River, was planned under Lula and built by his successor, Dilma Rousseff.
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Lula has used the same term to describe the earlier offshore oil discoveries.Įighty civil society and environmental organizations, WWF Brasil and Greenpeace, have called for the license to be declined pending an in-depth study. CEO Jean Paul Prates said the first well would be temporary, and that the company has never recorded a leak in offshore drilling.Įnergy Minister Alexandre Silveira said in March that the area is the “passport to the future” for development in Brazil’s northern regions. State-run oil giant Petrobras has earmarked almost half its five-year, $6 billion exploration budget for the area. It’s a unique and biodiverse location, home to little-studied swathes of mangroves and a coral reef.Īraújo said the project risks leaks that would be carried elsewhere by strong tides. With existing production set to peak in coming years, there’s sharp interest in securing more off Brazil’s northern coast. “To a large extent, this vision remains, meaning it will be very difficult to persuade the government to give up strategic projects, even when there are significant social environmental risks,” said Maiara Folly, director of CIPO, a think tank focused on climate and international relations. There would be an inconsistency,” Araújo said.ĭuring Lula’s first terms, huge offshore discoveries became a means of financing health, education and social welfare programs. But if oil exploration is intensified, it will mean expanding fossil fuels.
Lula’s speeches on environmental protection and the climate crisis are bang on point. Approval would surely lead to drilling in the whole region, said Suely Araújo, a former Ibama head now a public policy specialist with the Climate Observatory, a network of non-profits.
Ibama, Brazil’s environmental agency, will decide in coming months whether to license drilling in one sector near the mouth of the Amazon. And Brazil, a developing nation, has heavy demand for socioeconomic benefits. While opponents regard them as catastrophic, some in Lula’s Workers’ Party continue to view them as essential for providing jobs and promoting growth. He resumed successful pursuit of international donations for the Amazon Fund that combats deforestation, launched a military campaign to eject illegal miners from Yanomami territory, committed to ending all illegal deforestation by 2030 and restarted the demarcation of Indigenous areas.īut Lula faces difficult tests in the large infrastructure projects. Indigenous peoples’ rights were trampled.Īfter narrowly defeating Bolsonaro in last year’s election, Lula has strived to put environmental protection and respect for Indigenous peoples’ rights at the heart of his third term. The far-right leader filled key positions in environmental agencies with agribusiness allies and military officers. Under Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation soared to a 15-year high and environmental restrictions were weakened. We’re still very worried,” said Alessandra Korap, an Indigenous leader of the Munduruku people who recently won the Goldman Environmental Prize for work that included battling illegal mining. He’s already learned a lot, but needs to learn more. “Lula is talking about the environment, showing preoccupation with illegal mining, demarcating Indigenous territories.
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