President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Monday (10) that he will have a meeting with the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia to launch an alliance between the countries that hold the largest tropical forests on the planet. The meeting is expected to take place in June.

"I already have, in June, a commitment to Congo, which is inviting Brazil and Indonesia to make a great meeting of the three countries that have the largest green forest in the world," the president said.

The creation of the alliance had been announced during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27), held in Egypt last year, and which was attended by Lula, then president-elect.

The goal of the coalition, according to the Brazilian government, is to value the biodiversity of countries and promote fair remuneration for the ecosystem services provided by the three nations – especially through native forest carbon credits.

The alliance signals to the international community that the theme of conservation and sustainable use of this environmental asset must be spearheaded by those who own the world's major forests.

Lula said it is necessary to involve in the alliance other South American countries that also hold portions of the Amazon rainforest. The president said he should suggest to Congo's government that it extend the invitation.

On climate change, the president argued that Brazil will have an even more central role in global geopolitics. "Now, with the climate issue, the potential for negotiation with Brazil has greatly increased. Brazil has the largest area of rainforest."

"It is no sin that you want to exploit as intelligently as possible what you can turn into wealth for the country. This is how we will treat the issue of the Amazon in our international relations," he added.

China

With the trip to China rescheduled for this week, the president spoke about the resumption of a strong relationship between the two countries, which had been "dampened" in recent years and will be rescued. The Asian country is Brazil's largest trading partner.

"We will consolidate our relationship with China, I will invite [President] Xi Jinping to come to Brazil, to meet Brazil in a bilateral meeting, to show the projects of interest. What we want is to build partnership with the Chinese, to make society with the Chinese, so that they can make investments in things that do not exist, a new highway, railway, hydroelectric plant, something that means something new for Brazil," he said.

Lula also cited the strategic partnership with the neighboring countries of South America and again defended the strengthening of the regional relationship. "It doesn't matter rich Brazil with poor neighbors. We want everyone to grow on a level playing field," he said. The president also spoke of the importance of resuming strategic relations with Africa, with expansion of diplomacy, transfer of science and technology.

Obsession

Regarding the arrival of the third term, Lula said that he is more experienced and with the ability to accomplish more in less time. "The experience is that I can do more things, faster, I can produce more than in the other terms, because you have a two-term apprenticeship. We will do in four years more, proportionally more, than we have done in eight years," he said.

Regarding the mark of 100 days of administration, Lula highlighted the effort to put in place social programs that had already been adopted in previous governments, but that the obsession of the next period is the generation of employment.

"If doing social policy in the first three months was important, now the obsession is to generate jobs," he said.

"And generating jobs means growing the economy. For the economy to grow, we need to have either budget money or funding. We have to use the state's collection capacity, the financing capacity of public banks and the capacity to build PPPs [Public Private Partnerships], so that entrepreneurs and the government can together build the great works that are missing for Brazil. That's why I'm very optimistic."

Source: Canal Rural