Lula da Silva had stressed that addressing the climate issue “is necessary in order to preserve the human race on the planet, and the responsibility rests with everyone.”
He pledged to stop deforestation in the Amazon, revealing his desire to create a federal police force that works more strongly to protect the forests, and that “the commitment is to reach zero deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. And I will follow that with fire and sword.”
He emphasized working to organize a meeting with the leaders of Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia and French Guiana, “so that we can discuss a continental policy to preserve the Amazon region.”
Shocking numbers
Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro, an ally of agro-entrepreneurs, sparked international outrage during his four years in power over fires in the Amazon and systematic deforestation. Under Bolsonaro, the average annual deforestation rose by 59.5% compared to the previous four years, and by 75.5% over the previous decade, according to government figures.
Experts say the destruction is mainly due to people taking over land and clearing trees to make it suitable for farming and livestock.
The lungs of the world are choking
The Amazon forest, 60 percent of which is located in Brazilian territory, is threatened with extinction within a few decades, according to specialists, in the event that the accelerated destruction that befalls it is not remedied due to the combination of negative natural and human factors, from cutting and depleting its trees and investing in ways that are harmful to the environment, to drought and fires. Due to global warming, and the unprecedented rise in temperatures.
Expert opinion
Climate expert and member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Ayman Qaddouri, said in an interview with Sky News Arabia:
The Amazon forest is of existential importance for preserving global climate stability, given its vast area that extends across 8 countries in the South American continent, extending over an area of billions of square kilometers, within the Amazon River basin, the second longest river in the world. Thus, the Amazon is the first line of defense to limit the exacerbation of the effects of the stages of climate change, whose acceleration we are witnessing, in light of the failure of most countries of the world to develop serious and binding international plans to confront it.
Amazon Erosion Factors
In the midst of each summer, concerns about the Amazon forest fires return, and environmental activist organizations begin to assess their rates and potential effects. The year 2022 witnessed a significant increase in fire rates that these rainforests had not previously witnessed, with an increase of 20 percent from last year. Compared to the rates of fires since 1998, the increase has reached nearly 70 percent, which is a catastrophic rate that threatens the climate security of the planet in general, since these forests are the lungs of the earth and the largest area of discharge of the first greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, at a rate of 150 billion tons. Among the eight countries sharing the Amazon, Brazil has the most fire records in it, according to the Brazilian Climate Observatory and the National Institute for Space Research, which was suspicious, especially in light of the positions of the former president who underestimated the importance of the Amazon and failed to protect its forests.
continental plan
The continental plan is a bold step by Brazil after Da Silva returned for the third time to the presidency of Brazil, who is known for his environmental policies and directions in support of climate agreements, combating global warming, and protecting biodiversity and natural balance. For the success of this plan, Brazil needs the concerted efforts of 8 countries within the Amazon Basin, regardless of the influences and interests of industrial companies and the influential financial power centers in them, and which are inconsistent with the world’s interest in saving the Amazon forests. It is also necessary to involve the indigenous people of Amazonian villages in the task of defending and protecting the lungs of the world, given their experience and knowledge of the terrain of the place. UN and international organizations and institutions should support this continental plan aimed at curbing stakeholders and capitalists greedy in the Amazon, at the expense of the world’s environmental security. In the event that these efforts falter and violations continue on the balance of the Amazon environment, it is very likely that the world will lose these rainforests within the next 30 years only.
About the Amazon rainforest
It covers an area of 5.5 million square kilometres. It is known as the “lungs of the earth” because it produces more than 20 percent of the world’s oxygen. It contains 10 percent of the known biological species and is the most biologically diverse on Earth. There are about 16 thousand species of trees and 390 billion trees. The Amazon basin’s natural reserves include a quarter of the Earth’s creatures, in addition to 300,000 species of plants, 2,500 species of fish, 1,500 birds, 500 species of mammals, and 2.5 million species of insects. It is home to between 400 and 500 indigenous tribes, about 50 of which have no contact with the outside population. Cattle farms account for 70% of logging in the Amazon. Since 1970, about 800,000 square kilometers of rainforest in the Amazon have been destroyed due to logging. Almost 30 million people live in the Amazon region. It contains 20 percent of the world’s fresh water.
