Lula appoints conservationist Silva as Brazil’s environment minister Aid in the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo: roadblocks are removed

A few days before taking office on New Year’s Day, future Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nominated prominent conservationist and former presidential candidate Marina Silva as environment minister. “I thank Lula for the trust. Together we rise to the challenge and save and update the socio-ecological agenda,” Silva wrote on Twitter on Thursday. The 64-year-old had already led the department during Lula’s first two terms in office, from 2003 to 2008. After arguments about the direction of environmental policy, she finally resigned.

Silva grew up in a settlement of rubber collectors in the Amazon and had to help with the work as a child. She later studied history, joined the left-wing Workers’ Party (PT), and formed a union in the Amazon state of Acre with the later-murdered environmental activist Chico Mendes. In 1994, at age 36, she became the youngest member of the Senate to date. She contested the presidential elections in 2010 and 2014, winning third place each time.

Lula already announced a new environmental and climate policy after his right-wing predecessor Jair Bolsonaro saw the Amazon region mainly as an economic potential and did nothing to combat increasing deforestation. Because the rainforest can store large amounts of CO2, it is also crucial for the global climate.

(yam/sda/dpa)