Brazil's Election Could Decide the Fate of the Amazon

Brazil's ecosystems face collapse if Flávio Bolsonaro wins the presidency, warns columnist George Monbiot. He argues that the ruling class would rather destroy the world than share it with the poor. Monbiot writes that he has always believed common sense would prevail. As the dangers of destroying the natural world become clearer, even the most ruthless exploiters must eventually change course. Nobody wants to live on a dead planet. There were signs this was not just wishful thinking. Since 2015, the area of land being reforested worldwide has increased, mostly thanks to China. The global rate of forest destruction has also declined, thanks in large part to Brazil. The area of the Brazilian Amazon cleared each year is one-sixth of what it was when records began in 1988. In the past four years, Brazilian government policy has cut the deforestation rate by 71%. If Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is re-elected president on Sunday, the country could reach zero deforestation by 2030. Monbiot concludes that the arc of the moral universe seems to be bending toward justice.