The G20 summit will be a diplomatic test for veteran President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who has boosted Brazil’s global standing since returning to power but drawn fire for his positions on Ukraine and Gaza.
“Brazil is back!” Lula announced triumphantly two years ago after he unseated far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who had turned his country into a pariah, to secure a third term as Brazilian president.
The Rio meeting starting Monday is the first of several high-level gatherings that will showcase Brazil’s ambition to take a prominent role on everything from climate change to the war in Ukraine. Among them: annual UN climate talks next year which will take place in the Amazon.
Analysts claim that Lula’s leadership in the battle against climate change, which has involved a halt in the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon, has been his greatest diplomatic achievement.
As of the end of July 2024, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reports that the annualised rate has dropped to its lowest level in nine years.
Additionally, Lula’s administration has proposed a global forest conservation fund and announced expedited efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
According to Roberto Goulart Menezes, deputy director of Brasilia University’s Institute of International Relations, the environment “has made the most progress,” he told AFP.
If US President-elect Donald Trump fulfils his promise to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on emissions reductions, Lula’s leadership position would probably be reinforced.
