Brazil to create climate regulator amid extreme weather events

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced his intention to create a climate regulator amid Brazil's growing frequency of extreme weather events.

During a speech in Amazonas state, where he traveled to see firsthand the effects of a severe drought that has made river transport difficult due to low water levels, Lula said: "Our focus needs to be on adapting and preparing to face these phenomena. To achieve this, we will establish a climate authority and a technical-scientific committee that will support and coordinate the implementation of the federal government's actions."

Brazil has also experienced a wave of forest fires that have covered some metropolitan regions with smoke, while back in May, Rio Grande do Sul state was hit by heavy rains and suffered flooding for weeks.

"Lula is facing the risk of losing an important narrative since the environmental agenda was one of the most important themes in his presidential campaign in the 2022 elections," André Pereira César, a political analyst at Hold Consultoria, told BNamericas.

His predecessor "Jair Bolsonaro was criticized for not adopting measures to combat deforestation, but now we can also begin to see growing criticism of Lula’s government for not being able to do anything effective for the government while giving environmentally friendly speeches," César added. 

No details about the plans to create a climate regulator were provided. 

Meanwhile, the transport infrastructure department (DNIT) signed with LCM Construções a contract to resume construction and paving of highway BR-319 Amazonas, which will connect state capital Manaus with Rondônia capital Porto Velho.

Currently, this road is unpaved and sees little traffic. The government says paving this road can help the local population receive assistance when extreme weather events occur and will solve logistics problems, but environmentalists disagree.

"The paving of BR-319 is a project that could make the Amazon rainforest reach what scientists call the point of no return in relation to deforestation. A paved road will serve to generate real estate speculation in areas along the road that are currently forested and in practice the government has no way of monitoring this in the long term," Beto Veríssimo, co-founder of environmental NGO Imazon, told BNamericas.

The government also announced dredging works in Amazon region rivers with investments estimated at nearly 500mn reais (US$90mn).

In addition, environment and climate change minister Marina Silva highlighted that the Amazon Fund will allocate more than 737mn reais in incentives for 78 municipalities to reduce deforestation.

"The government, in partnership with the states, has reduced deforestation in these municipalities by 42% since 2023. Last year, 50%. This year, 45%. Even so, it is still not enough. This is why new measures have to be taken. This alliance with municipalities is for environmental and land regularization and a sustainable development plan," she said in a statement.