MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula to enforce international climate-related agreements

The former two-time head of state is also expected to repeal Bolsonaro's decrees regarding access to weapons

Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Thursday pledged to enforce the international climate-related agreements once he takes office on Jan. 1 while advocating for global governance regarding these matters.

In order to deliver on this promise, Lula will have to deal with agribusiness entrepreneurs, most of whom supported incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro in the elections.

“The true agribusiness entrepreneur knows where he cannot burn, where he cannot destroy the forest. The true agribusiness entrepreneur has a commitment because he knows the price you pay when you are irresponsible,” Lula told the Conference of the Parties (COP27)in Egypt.

Lula also said he wanted to put an end to the illegal exploration of minerals and natural wealth on indigenous lands and illegal deforestation, mainly in the Amazon. “It is not necessary to cut down a square meter of trees to increase the production of soybeans, corn or raise cattle; we have millions of hectares of degraded land that can be recovered,” he said.

The former two-time head of state is also expected to repeal Bolsonaro's decrees regarding access to weapons, which was made more flexible. Senator-elect Flávio Dino, also a member of Lula's transition team insisted that the issue had been one of Lula's campaign promises.

“We have a law in force, the disarmament statute, which was dismantled with infralegal acts...,” Dino said.

“This is undoubtedly a fundamental matter of the working group, because it is an issue that President Lula chose, and it is a question approved by Brazilian society,” he added.

For Dino, it is necessary to discuss “a modeling” of the arsenal currently in the hands of the population, in order to remove large caliber weapons from circulation. He also suggested reorganizing the licenses of firearm clubs and revisioning the concepts of “collector, shooter, and hunter.”

“What is certain is that from now on, the fundamental concept is the 2003 law, the disarmament statute,” he stressed.

“It can't be something uncontrolled, it can't be a general release, because every day there is news in homes, in neighbors, in bars and restaurants, of someone who shot or had a record. This shows that this concept really failed and what failed has to be repealed,” he added.

Bolsonaro has made access to and possession of weapons in Brazil more flexible, although the courts suspended many of his decrees, citing risks to society.

(Source: Xinhua)