Brazil's Amazon Rainforest Deforestation Reaches Four-Year Low Under President Lula

 Brazil's Amazon rainforest saw a 34 percent reduction in deforestation in the first half of 2023, compared to the previous year, according to preliminary data released by the national space research agency Inpe.

This marks the lowest level of clearing in the past four years, thanks to the environmental policies instituted by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The former president Jair Bolsonaro had slashed environmental protection efforts during his term in office, resulting in deforestation levels increasing by 75 percent compared to the average of the previous decade.

In response, the current president Lula has made a pledge to end deforestation in the Amazon by 2030, and the government has already taken steps in this direction. In June, satellite data from INPE indicated that the deforestation had decreased by 41 percent compared to the same month in the previous year.

The government plans to meet this pledge by deploying a long list of measures, such as strengthened law enforcement, green economic development, and work done in collaboration with Norway and Germany through the Amazon Fund.

To further this aim, Lula is attempting to convince the world's wealthiest countries to financially support the initiatives designed to protect the Amazon. This could be a deciding factor in the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement between the South American trade bloc Mercosur and the European Union.