Economy

Brazil elected a leftist president on Sunday but they also elected a friend of climate change

David Callaway

Published: November 1, 2022 3:45 am

Last Updated: November 1, 2022 10:13 am

(Michael Molinski is a senior economist at Trendline Economics. He’s worked for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo, and previously as a foreign correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.)

RIO DE JANEIRO (Callaway Climate Insights) — I first met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when he was campaigning for president in 1994. As a reporter for Bloomberg, I sat with him on a lawn chair atop his campaign van, which he drove across Sao Paulo blasting his campaign speeches through big speakers. He went on to lose that election before he was eventually elected president in 2002.

I found him to be personable, passionate, honest and had a genuine interest in improving the economic and social conditions of Brazilians. And I continued to have that opinion of Lula during his years as president.

Brazilians have elected the former president to replace far-right incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro. But they also elected a friend of climate change.

For Brazilians, their vote could not be more stark between two wide-reaching political and economic candidates. And for the rest of the world, the election also meant a choice between a defender of the environment, Lula, and a destroyer of the environment, Bolsonaro…

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