Brazil’s President Lula And The ‘Mother Teresa Of The Rainforests’ Want To Make Lasting Change

Forbes calls her one of the most influential scientists affecting climate change. Now Brazil’s President Lula has nominated Thelma Krug to chair the global agency advancing the science behind human-caused warming.

Dr. Krug has vigilantly patrolled the Amazon — otherwise known as the ‘Mother Teresa of the Rainforests.’ Her potential ascent to one of the highest leadership positions in the field of climate science corresponds with President Lula’s embrace of rainforest preservation, leading to the country hosting COP30 in 2025 in the heart of the Amazon.

“We know where deforestation is. We know that control and enforcement is the most immediate action we can take,” says Dr. Krug, in a conversation with this writer in Bonn, Germany, at a major climate conference in the run-up to COP28 in Dubai. “We provide daily information by using satellites. We have images to identify deforestation. And we give warnings.”

But as she explains, “it is a war” — a costly form of policing. “Most of the time, we are dealing with organized criminals — who have the same information we do. By the time we get there, they have run away. So we blow up the equipment they have left behind: the helicopters and aircraft. Both sides may get killed.”

With former President Jair Bolsonaro, it was “hands off.” Brazil’s national space agency says deforestation skyrocketed under his leadership, causing a 12.2% increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.

Meet Dr. Krug, nominated to head the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: It’s a month-long election process that could last until July 29th, in a term that runs about 5 five years. She is now one of three vice chairs at the organization in charge of forestry and land use.

She was a scientist at the National Institute for Space Research in 1989, responsible for slowing deforestation. But the need for advanced technology made oversight tricky. That changed in 2000 when satellites provided accurate pictures of who was using the land and for what purposes. The technology showed that loggers, miners, and others destroyed 29,000 kilometers in 2004.

That led to reforms spearheaded by President Lula and Dr. Krug, helping to preserve 80% of the Brazilian rainforests from 2004 to 2012.

“We need to provide those living in the Amazon a sustainable means of living,” says Dr. Krug. “Without forests, you cannot stay on target to keep the temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. It has to be an integrated effort that involves every sector: agriculture, forestry, and other land use — now responsible for 23% of global emissions.”

Other Countries Are Also Pulling Their Weight

Indeed, President Lula and his climate czar, Thelma Krug, have elevated the cause of rainforest preservation globally — the centerpiece for achieving the goals of the Paris climate agreement. While Brazil may be a focal point, other countries — big and small — are also pulling their weight.

Consider the Ivory Coast in West Africa: agriculture and forestry are linked, with one dependent on another. Since 2011, the government has created incentives to perform sustainable agriculture, reforest, and reverse degradation. Meanwhile, Kenya has enacted a significant climate change law to move to a low-carbon economy. The focus is on natural solutions such as rainforest preservation and deploying more sustainable fuels and technologies.

Dominica is in the Caribbean and on the frontlines of climate change as many hurricanes pass through on their way up the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. And while developing countries move forward economically, those in the eye of the storm still struggle. Even with those challenges, the island places a high value on its rainforests, magnets for tourism, and tools to combat global warming.

Belize has promised to cut its emissions by greening its transportation fleet and using all renewable energy by 2050. And hydroelectricity and solar power are crucial to the charge, facilitated by localized microgrids. At the same time, it is 60% forested but has less than a 1% deforestation rate.

The Dominican Republic, known for its beach resorts, has a forest cover of 37.6%. Because the Caribbean islands do not have glaciers or snow-capped peaks to hold water, they depend exclusively on their mountain-based forests. They catch the water from the clouds as they collide with the mountains and the moisture that condenses at night. “But we need the mechanisms to protect this land,” says Janibel Munoz Torres, senior negotiator for the country.

More than 138 countries with less than 1% of annual CO2 emissions are at the mercy of 20 nations that make up 80% of those releases. Yet, some of the poorest among them have led the cause of rainforest preservation. But they have been largely ignored, unable to get the funding they need. The trees suck CO2 from the atmosphere — something in the interest of everyone everywhere.

“We understand with climate change and increased global temperatures, we will have more frequent and intense events: wildfires, floods, and a hotter climate,” says Dr. Krug. “Regions undergoing drought and hot temperatures are on the road to disaster. It has transboundary implications. No one can escape this,” illustrated by Canada’s ongoing wildfires and the haze blanketing the U.S. East Coast. That is a literal taste of the climate emergency.

“Climate finance is the biggest barrier, along with technology upgrades and institutional reluctance,” the scientist added, emphasizing that climate finance is not a handout but a means to enforce the law and create nature-based jobs.

President Lula and Dr. Krug have long championed the Amazon, saving its trees and combating warming. Suppose they can successfully elevate rainforest preservation to the top of the climate agenda. In that case, it is a win for the world — a proven shield against extreme weather events that have ravaged lives and uprooted citizens.