Flávio Bolsonaro, the far‑right son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, secured 47% of the vote in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, putting him ahead of incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who received 44.2%. The result signals a sharp shift in the country’s political landscape and raises alarms for climate and nature activists, as Bolsonaro’s campaign has been linked to policies that could accelerate deforestation and undermine protections for the Amazon.
Bolsonaro’s record suggests a willingness to roll back environmental safeguards. He backed a 2019 bill that removed requirements for Amazon landowners to preserve native vegetation, ignored the climate crisis in his manifesto, and courted support from powerful extractive‑industry interests. The Bolsonarist movement now controls seven of the nine Amazonian states and could win an eighth in the runoffs, while congressional allies have pushed to weaken protections even before the election.
In contrast, Lula’s administration has cut Amazon deforestation by almost 50% since taking office, yet this success has not translated into strong electoral support. Pro‑forest candidates such as former environment minister Marina Silva and Indigenous leader Joénia Wapichana failed to win seats, and only two of 57 Indigenous candidates were elected.
The election outcome reflects broader forces, including the use of social media by the far right, the rise of US‑style Pentecostalism, and geopolitical tensions between the US and China that amplify extreme ideologies. If Bolsonaro wins, the implications go beyond the Amazon, threatening Brazil’s biomes, its traditional peoples, and the stability of the global climate.
