The Future of the Amazon, and Maybe the Planet, Depends on Brazil’s President-Elect Lula

"On the question of the environment, he said, “There has to be an international decision. Let’s take an example: we signed the Kyoto Protocol, and the United States did not comply. So, it’s no use approving decisions in a multilateral meeting, if each country is going to take it back inside its territory, and to decide [again] there.” (The Clinton Administration signed the Kyoto Protocol, but the Senate declined to ratify it.) He added, “For a change in the U.N.—and the U.N. has to change—you can’t just have those five in the Security Council.” In the end, I felt, what Lula was saying was that he is back, and so is Brazil, and he wants to make Brazil’s presence felt and its voice heard once more on the world stage.

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read article by Jon Lee Anderson

The Future of the Amazon, and Maybe the Planet, Depends on Brazil’s President-Elect Lula | The New Yorker