Join Brazil in planting oil

The 21st century will be marked by a crucial debate: how can we make economic and social development compatible with the preservation of our natural environment? When I began my term of office, the rate of deforestation in Brazil had been increasing by an average of 27% per year. From the second half of 2004 onwards, however, we put measures in place to monitor tree-felling and to address the issue of land distribution, with the result that the rate of deforestation has fallen dramatically.

In the search for new, sustainable economic models, the international community is coming to recognise the need for a radical rethink in relation to the generation of energy, and Brazil is responding by using clean, renewable, alternative energy sources to an ever-greater extent. More than 40% of Brazil’s energy comes from “green” sources, in comparison with around 7% in rich countries.

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