AFP UK

Scientists warn that we need to drastically — and urgently — rethink our relationship with the natural world

Delegates from nearly 200 countries meet in Montreal next week to hammer out a new global biodiversity deal to protect ecosystems and species from further human destruction.

The meeting follows crucial climate change talks in Egypt in November, where leaders failed to forge any breakthroughs on scaling down fossil fuels and slashing planet-warming emissions.

Observers are hoping the COP15 biodiversity talks in Montreal will deliver a landmark deal to protect nature and reverse the damage humans have done to forests, wetlands, waterways and the millions of species that live in them. 

Around 50 percent of the global economy is dependent on nature, but scientists warn that humanity needs to drastically — and urgently — rethink its relationship with the natural world as fears of a sixth era of mass extinction grow.

“Our planet is in crisis,” said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the head of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), at a briefing ahead of the talks, adding that a global agreement on biodiversity was “crucial to ensure that the future of humankind on planet Earth is sustained”. 

So far, humanity has proven woeful at this.   

The so-called post-2020 biodiversity framework, delayed by two years because of the pandemic, will map out an official plan for nature until mid-century for most countries, with the exception of the United States, which has not signed up. 

It will include key targets to be met by 2030. 

But it comes after countries failed to meet a single one of the targets set for the previous decade. 

With new rules affecting key economic sectors — including agriculture, forestry and fishing — and covering everything from intellectual property to pollution and pesticides, delegates are grappling with an array of sticking points.   

So far, only two out of the 22 targets in the new deal have been agreed upon.

“We have to admit that success is not guaranteed,” an EU source close to the talks said. “We have a very difficult situation ahead of us.”

– Finance fight – 

While China currently chairs COP15, it is not hosting this year’s meeting because of the ongoing pandemic. 

Instead, it will be held from December 7 to 19 in Montreal, home of the CBD, which oversees the negotiations. 

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is the only world leader attending. Chinese President Xi Jinping has not said he will join, and neither side has invited other leaders to come, with time quickly running out. 

Observers fear the leaders’ absence sucks the momentum out of the negotiations and could scupper an ambitious final deal. 

Divisions have already emerged on the key issue of financing, with wealthy countries under pressure to funnel more money to developing nations for conservation.

A group of developing nations, including Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia, this year called for rich countries to provide at least $100 billion annually –- rising to $700 billion a year by 2030 — for biodiversity. 

But many Western nations are reluctant to create a distinct fund for nature.

Currently, most biodiversity funds for the developing world come from existing funding mechanisms, which often also include climate finance.   

Another fight is brewing over the issue of “biopiracy”, with many mainly African countries accusing wealthy nations of pillaging the natural world for ingredients and formulas used in cosmetics and medicines, without sharing the benefits with the communities from which they came. 

– Indigenous rights – 

One cornerstone target that has received broad support is the 30 by 30 target — a pledge to protect 30 percent of land and seas by 2030. Only 17 percent of land and about seven percent of oceans were protected in 2020.

So far, more than 100 countries formally support the goal, according to the EU-backed High Ambition Coalition which tracks the target.

The new goal will rely heavily on the involvement of indigenous peoples, who steward land that is home to around 80 percent of Earth’s remaining biodiversity, according to a landmark UN report on climate change impacts this year.

“It’s not going to work if indigenous peoples are not fully included,” Jennifer Tauli Corpuz of the non-profit Nia Tero told AFP. 

“We completely lose the integrity of the document”, added Corpuz, who is part of the indigenous caucus to the talks. 

Other items in the framework: elimination or redirection of hundreds of millions of dollars in harmful government subsidies; promoting sustainable farming and fishing, reducing pesticides; tackling invasive species and reforestation.

But implementation is perhaps the most crucial agenda item to ensure the pledges made are actually carried out by governments.  

“We need goals and targets that are measurable and they need to be related to clear indicators,” the EU source said, calling for “robust monitoring, planning, reporting and review”. 

Ghevar Ram, a member of India's Bishnoi community, bottle feeds milk to a fawn at an animal rescue centre in Khejarli

Surrounded by deer and antelopes, Ghevar Ram caressed an injured fawn at a rescue centre run by India’s Bishnoi community, who have been fighting to protect the environment for more than 500 years.

Ram, a member of the Hindu sect, has devoted his life to animals, bringing those in distress to the centre and taking care of them until they are fit enough to be released back into the wild.

“I treat animals like my own children. This is what we are taught since our childhood,” Ram, 45, told AFP as he bottle-fed the fawn ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal next week.

The Bishnois are India’s original eco-warriors, willing to sacrifice themselves to protect animals and trees.

The sect, established in the 15th century by Guru Jambheshwar and which now claims about 1.5 million members, believes in the sanctity of all life, shunning meat and avoiding felling living trees.

Spread mostly in hamlets across Rajasthan, the community draws inspiration from Amrita Devi, a Bishnoi woman killed in 1730 while trying to protect a khejari — now the state tree.

According to legend, a local king in the desert state sent his men to cut wood to fuel cement lime kilns to build his palace.

Devi rushed out of her home in a Bishnoi village to block them, clasping a tree trunk to protect it.

“Despite her pleas, the men did not stop. She then hugged a tree, but the king’s men showed no mercy and chopped down the tree along with her head,” said Sukhdev Godara, a retired schoolteacher, his eyes glistening with emotion.

Her last words were recorded as: “A chopped head is cheaper than a felled tree.”

Other Bishnoi villagers — beginning with Devi’s three daughters — followed suit, hugging the trees as they were decapitated.

In all, 363 Bishnoi men, women, and children were killed, their sacrifice now commemorated with a monument in the village inscribed with each of their names and topped with a statue of Amrita Devi.

– ‘In harmony with nature’ –

The martyr is now a hero for the likes of Sita Devi, who fuels her cooking fire with cow dung cakes rather than firewood to feed her strictly vegetarian family.

A mother of seven, she also once breastfed an orphaned antelope fawn.

“I was working in the fields when I saw a fawn being attacked by feral dogs. I rescued the fawn and brought it home,” she said, dressed in a traditional long pink skirt and sparkling gold jewellery.

“I fed the fawn my own milk, and once he regained strength, I released it in the wild,” she recalled with pride.

Although a subsect of Hinduism, the Bishnoi do not cremate their dead because that would mean cutting down trees to fuel the fire.

“Our guru taught us to bury our dead instead,” said schoolteacher Godara.

Bishnoi men are mostly farmers and patrol the land to make sure no animal is harmed or hunted down.

Advocate Rampal Bhawad co-founded the Bishnoi Tiger Force, an environmental campaign group and anti-poaching vigilante organisation, after Bollywood superstar Salman Khan shot dead two black bucks while filming a movie in Rajasthan in 1998.

The community followed the case assiduously for 20 years until Khan was sentenced to five years in jail by a local court for violating the Wildlife Protection Act.

The penalty was later suspended on appeal, but not before Khan had spent several days in prison.

“We file police complaints and pursue cases till the guilty are punished,” Bhawad told AFP. 

In a world fighting the insidious effects of climate change, he said, “we should plant more and more trees.

“We should live in harmony with nature and be kind towards all living beings.”

French President Emmanuel Macron complained about US industrial subsidies on the first day of a state visit to Washington

France’s President Emmanuel Macron fired a volley at his American hosts on the first day of a rare state visit to Washington, telling lawmakers Wednesday that US industrial subsidies are “super aggressive” against French competitors.

“This is super aggressive for our business people,” an AFP reporter heard Macron tell members of Congress and business leaders, who had invited him to lunch ahead of the main part of the state visit on Thursday, when the French leader will spend most of the day with President Joe Biden.

Macron was referring to Biden’s signature policy called the Inflation Reduction Act, which is set to pour billions of dollars into environmentally friendly industries — with strong backing for US-based manufacturers.

The White House touts the IRA legislation as a groundbreaking effort to reignite US manufacturing and promote renewable technologies, but European Union governments are crying foul, threatening to launch a trade war by subsidizing their own green economy sector.

Macron’s blunt assessment, saying he just wanted “to be respected as a good friend,” tore some of the veneer off a carefully choreographed state visit intended to celebrate historic US-French ties — and also tackle the trickier parts of the US-EU transatlantic alliance.

“I don’t want to become a market to sell American products because I have exactly the same products as you,” said Macron, stressing that France had its own middle class in need of employment.

“And the consequence of the IRA is that you will perhaps fix your issue but you will increase my problem. I’m sorry to be so straightforward,” he said.

The White House responded by insisting that the state visit is about the two presidents’ “warm relationship.”

US advances in the clean energy economy will help Europeans too, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. The IRA “presents significant opportunities for European firms as well as benefits to EU energy security. This is not a zero sum game.”

In a speech later at the French embassy, Macron insisted on the subsidies issue and said they could become a real sticking point in US relations with Europe.

While voicing support for the environmental goals of the IRA, Macron said, “These are choices that will split the West.”

Still, Macron said US-French ties remain solid, calling on both countries to heed “the bonds that history has forged between us, an alliance stronger than anything.” 

– Frenchman on the Moon? –

Earlier, Macron joined Vice President Kamala Harris at NASA headquarters in Washington to discuss cooperation in space — and to propose the first Frenchman on the Moon.

Macron highlighted the American lunar program Artemis, whose first uncrewed test mission launched in mid-November with participation of the European Space Agency (ESA), and said “we are very keen” to join.

“It’s very important for us, as long as you can propose a French leader to fly to the Moon quite rapidly,” he told Harris, in a nod to French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who also attended the NASA visit.

Macron’s busy schedule, which included a working lunch to discuss biodiversity and clean energy, and a visit to the historic Arlington National Cemetery, illustrated the ambitions set for the trip — the first formal state visit by a foreign leader to Washington since Biden took office nearly two years ago.

The core of the visit will be Thursday, including a White House military honor guard, Oval Office talks with Biden, a joint press conference and a banquet where Grammy-award-winning American musician Jon Batiste will perform.

The White House showed off the menu for the big dinner, which will start with butter poached Maine lobster, paired with caviar, “delicata squash raviolo” and tarragon sauce.

The main course features beef and triple cooked butter potatoes, before heading into the cheese course of award winning US brands, and finally orange chiffon cake, roasted pears with citrus sauce, and creme fraiche ice cream.

Washing all that down will be three different American wines.

– EU-US tensions –

Trade tensions, however, are only part of the uncomfortable flip side to the red carpet occasion.

Another gripe in Europe is the high cost of US liquid natural gas exports — which have surged to help compensate for canceled Russian deliveries.

There is also divergence on how to deal with the rise of superpower China. 

The question — with Washington pursuing a more hawkish tone and EU powers trying to find a middle ground — is unlikely to see much progress.

Aerial view of the landslide that hit highway BR 367 in southern Brazil, sweeping away some 20 vehicles and leaving at least two people dead and dozens missing.

At least two people were killed and dozens more are missing after a landslide ripped across a section of highway in southern Brazil, sweeping some 20 cars and trucks along with it, authorities said Wednesday.

The torrent of mud came rushing down a steep hillside Monday after days of heavy rain in the state of Parana, hitting highway BR 367, officials said.

“It’s hard to know the exact number of victims. A vehicle could have one to five people inside. We’re working with an estimate of 30 to 50 people missing,” local emergency response chief Manoel Vasco told a news conference.

Aerial images released by the emergency services showed a massive smear of mud that swept away everything in its path — including a chunk of highway and the vehicles on it.

Rescue workers said the bad weather and remote location were complicating the search effort.

They are using drones with heat-detecting cameras in hopes of finding survivors.

“Fifty-four firefighters have been working non-stop for more than 35 hours,” the Parana state security authority said in a statement later Wednesday, noting as well concerns over further landslides.  

Two bodies have been found so far, and six survivors have been located, including the mayor of the coastal town of Guaratuba, the nearest city.

“It was horrible. The mountain just fell on top of us. It swept away every last car. We’re only alive by the grace of God,” the mayor, Roberto Justus, said in a video posted on social media.

Brazil is frequently hit by deadly landslides.

The national weather service INMET has issued heavy rain warnings for multiple states. 

At least one other person died Wednesday after a section of road was washed out, sweeping away the victim’s car, in the northeastern state of Segipe, Brazilian media reported.

In February, more than 200 people were killed in a series of landslides in the picturesque southeastern tourist town of Petropolis.

French President Emmanuel Macron complained about US industrial subsidies on the first day of a state visit to Washington

France’s President Emmanuel Macron fired a volley at his American hosts on the first day of a rare state visit to Washington, telling lawmakers Wednesday that US industrial subsidies are “super aggressive” against French competitors.

“This is super aggressive for our business people,” an AFP reporter heard Macron tell members of Congress and business leaders, who had invited him to lunch ahead of the main part of the state visit on Thursday, when the French leader will spend most of the day with President Joe Biden.

Macron was referring to Biden’s signature policy called the Inflation Reduction Act, which is set to pour billions of dollars into environmentally friendly industries — with strong backing for US-based manufacturers.

The White House touts the IRA legislation as a groundbreaking effort to reignite US manufacturing and promote renewable technologies, but European Union governments are crying foul, threatening to launch a trade war by subsidizing their own green economy sector.

Macron’s blunt assessment, saying he just wanted “to be respected as a good friend,” tore some of the veneer off a carefully choreographed state visit intended to celebrate historic US-French ties — and also tackle the trickier parts of the US-EU transatlantic alliance.

“I don’t want to become a market to sell American products because I have exactly the same products as you,” said Macron, stressing that France had its own middle class in need of employment.

“And the consequence of the IRA is that you will perhaps fix your issue but you will increase my problem. I’m sorry to be so straightforward,” he said.

The White House responded by insisting that the state visit is about the two presidents’ “warm relationship.”

US advances in the clean energy economy will help Europeans too, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. The IRA “presents significant opportunities for European firms as well as benefits to EU energy security. This is not a zero sum game.”

– Frenchman on the Moon? –

Earlier, Macron joined Vice President Kamala Harris at NASA headquarters in Washington to discuss cooperation in space — and to propose the first Frenchman on the Moon.

Macron highlighted the American lunar program Artemis, whose first uncrewed test mission launched in mid-November with participation of the European Space Agency (ESA), and said “we are very keen” to join.

“It’s very important for us, as long as you can propose a French leader to fly to the Moon quite rapidly,” he told Harris, in a nod to French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who also attended the NASA visit.

Macron’s busy schedule, which included a working lunch to discuss biodiversity and clean energy, and a visit to the historic Arlington National Cemetery, illustrated the ambitions set for the trip — the first formal state visit by a foreign leader to Washington since Biden took office nearly two years ago.

The core of the visit will be Thursday, including a White House military honor guard, Oval Office talks with Biden, a joint press conference and a banquet where Grammy-award-winning American musician Jon Batiste will perform.

The White House showed off the menu for the big dinner, which will start with butter poached Maine lobster, paired with caviar, “delicata squash raviolo” and tarragon sauce.

The main course features beef and triple cooked butter potatoes, before heading into the cheese course of award winning US brands, and finally orange chiffon cake, roasted pears with citrus sauce, and creme fraiche ice cream.

Washing all that down will be three different American wines.

– EU-US tensions –

Trade tensions, however, are only part of the uncomfortable flip side to the red carpet occasion.

Another gripe in Europe is the high cost of US liquid natural gas exports — which have surged to help compensate for canceled Russian deliveries.

There is also divergence on how to deal with the rise of superpower China. The question — with Washington pursuing a more hawkish tone and EU powers trying to find a middle ground — is unlikely to see much progress.

“Europe has since 2018 its own, unique strategy for relations with China,” tweeted French embassy spokesman Pascal Confavreux in Washington.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said China will be “very high on the agenda” this week but stressed that both countries share a broad approach.

“We believe that not only France, but every other member of the G7 — frankly, our NATO allies too — see the threats and challenges posed by China in the same way.”

Aerial view of the landslide that hit highway BR 367 in southern Brazil, sweeping away some 20 vehicles and leaving at least two people dead and dozens missing.

At least two people were killed and dozens more are missing after a landslide ravaged a section of highway in southern Brazil, sweeping some 20 cars and trucks along with it, authorities said Wednesday.

The torrent of mud came rushing down a steep hillside Monday after days of heavy rain in the state of Parana, hitting highway BR 367, officials said.

“It’s hard to know the exact number of victims. A vehicle could have one to five people inside. We’re working with an estimate of 30 to 50 people missing,” local emergency response chief Manoel Vasco told a news conference.

Aerial images released by the emergency services showed a massive splotch of brown mud that swept away everything in its path — including a large chunk of highway and the vehicles on it.

Rescue workers said the bad weather and remote location were complicating the search effort.

They are using drones with heat-detecting cameras in hopes of finding survivors.

Two bodies have been found so far, and six survivors have been located, including the mayor of the coastal town of Guaratuba, the nearest city.

“It was horrible. The mountain just fell on top of us. It swept away every last car. We’re only alive by the grace of God,” the mayor, Roberto Justus, said in a video posted on social media.

Brazil is frequently hit by deadly landslides.

In February, more than 200 people were killed in a series of landslides in the picturesque southeastern tourist town of Petropolis.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with US Vice President Kamala Harris at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration headquarters in Washington on November 30, 2022

Paris and Washington pledged Wednesday to reenforce their cooperation in space, particularly on exploration and climate, during a visit by France’s Emmanuel Macron to NASA headquarters alongside US Vice President Kamala Harris.

The French president, on a state visit to the United States, highlighted the American lunar program Artemis, whose first uncrewed test mission launched in mid-November with participation of the European Space Agency (ESA).

“We are very keen” to participate, he told Harris, adding with a smile: “It’s very important for us, as long as you can propose a French leader to fly to the Moon quite rapidly,” he said, in a nod to French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who joined Macron for the NASA visit.

The two ally nations are also collaborating on the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope, whose initial images have already shaken up our understandings of the universe.

On the climate front, Macron mentioned the scheduled December 12 liftoff of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, a NASA satellite developed in partnership with France’s CNES which aims to monitor the levels of oceans, lakes and rivers.

“We are so very proud to work with France,” Harris, who chairs the White House’s National Space Council, said, noting how the two countries have partnered on space exploration for more than 60 years.

“In this time, we have made great strides and yet in so many ways we are beginning a new journey together,” she said.

When she visited Paris last year, the deputy to President Joe Biden joined Macron to “launch a strategic dialogue on space,” the French leader recalled.

With Macron suggesting that outer space could become a point of international contention, he and Harris stressed the importance of developing new norms of conduct in space.

France in June joined the Artemis accords promoted by the United States — a series of principles governing conduct in deep space by different nations. The policies are aimed at deconfliction of activities, implementation of safety zones, registration of space objects and coordination on emergency assistance.

On Tuesday France also pledged not to conduct anti-satellite missile tests, which cause space debris that can then threaten orbiting spacecraft and satellites. The United States made the pledge earlier this year.

French President Emmanuel Macron complained about US industrial subsidies during a lunch on the first day of his state visit

France’s President Emmanuel Macron fired an undiplomatic volley at his American hosts on the first day of a rare state visit to Washington, telling lawmakers Wednesday that US industrial subsidies are “super aggressive” against French competitors.

“This is super aggressive for our business people,” an AFP reporter heard Macron tell members of Congress and business leaders, who had invited him to lunch ahead of the main part of the state visit on Thursday, when the French leader will spend most of the day with President Joe Biden.

Macron was referring to Biden’s signature policy called the Inflation Reduction Act, which is set to pour billions of dollars into environmentally friendly industries — with strong backing for US-based manufacturers.

The White House touts the IRA legislation as a groundbreaking effort to reignite US manufacturing and promote renewable technologies, but European Union governments are crying foul, threatening to launch a trade war by subsidizing their own green economy sector.

Macron’s blunt assessment, saying he just wanted “to be respected as a good friend,” tore some of the veneer off a carefully choreographed state visit intended to celebrate historic US-French ties — and also tackle the trickier parts of the US-EU transatlantic alliance.

Macron warned that the United States championing its own industry under the IRA will “kill a lot of jobs” in Europe and it may “perhaps fix your issue but you will increase my problem.”

– Space talk –

Earlier, Macron joined Vice President Kamala Harris at the NASA facility in Washington to discuss cooperation in space.

“France is a vital ally to the United States and this visit demonstrates the strength of our partnership, our friendship…, one that is based on shared democratic principles and values,” Harris told Macron.

Macron stayed in the high-tech sphere later with a meeting on civilian nuclear energy. His busy schedule, which also included a working lunch to discuss biodiversity and clean energy, and a visit to the historic Arlington National Cemetery, illustrated the ambitions set for the trip — the first formal state visit by a foreign leader to Washington since Biden took office nearly two years ago.

The core of the visit will be on Thursday, including a White House military honor guard, Oval Office talks with Biden, a joint press conference and a banquet where Grammy-award-winning American musician Jon Batiste will perform.

– EU-US tensions –

Trade tensions, however, are only part of the uncomfortable flip side to the red carpet occasion.

Another gripe in Europe is the high cost of US liquid natural gas exports — which have surged to help compensate for canceled Russian deliveries.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the US side wants to defuse tensions, promising “transparent, forthright” discussions.

“We certainly will stay open to listening” to the EU concerns, he said.

There is also divergence on how to deal with the rise of superpower China. The question — with Washington pursuing a more hawkish tone and EU powers trying to find a middle ground — is unlikely to see much progress.

“Europe has since 2018 its own, unique strategy for relations with China,” tweeted French embassy spokesman Pascal Confavreux in Washington.

Kirby said China will be “very high on the agenda” this week but stressed that both countries share a broad approach.

“We believe that not only France, but every other member of the G7 — frankly, our NATO allies too — see the threats and challenges posed by China in the same way.”

The breadth of Macron’s entourage — including the foreign, defense and finance ministers, as well as business leaders and astronauts — illustrates the importance Paris has put on the visit.

At the White House, however, a senior official said the main goal of the state visit is to nurture the “personal relationship, the alliance relationship” with France — and between Biden and Macron.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon destroyed an area bigger than Qatar in the 12 months through July 2022, according to official figures, which showed a decline from the year before — but a sharp increase overall under President Jair Bolsonaro

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon destroyed an area bigger than Qatar in the 12 months through July, according to official figures released Wednesday, which showed a decline from the year before — but a sharp increase overall under outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.

In the latest grim news on the world’s biggest rainforest, satellite monitoring showed 11,568 square kilometers (4,466 square miles) of forest cover was destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon from August 2021 to July 2022, according to national space agency INPE’s annual deforestation tracking program, PRODES.

The figure was a decrease of 11.3 percent from the year before, when INPE detected 13,038 square kilometers of deforestation — a 15-year high.

But it closed out four years of what environmentalists call disastrous management of the Amazon under the far-right Bolsonaro, whose successor, veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has vowed to work toward zero deforestation when he takes office on January 1.

Under agribusiness ally Bolsonaro, average annual deforestation rose by 59.5 percent from the previous four years, and by 75.5 percent from the previous decade, according to INPE figures.

“The Bolsonaro government was a forest-destroying machine… The only good news is that it’s about to end,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a coalition of environmental groups.

“Jair Bolsonaro will hand his successor a filthy legacy of surging deforestation and an Amazon in flames,” he said in a statement, urging Lula — who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010 — to show “zero tolerance” for environmental crimes.

Bolsonaro’s office and the environment ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Experts say the vast majority of the clear-cutting and fires erasing the Amazon are to create new farmland — especially for cattle ranches in Brazil, the world’s top beef exporter.

The deforestation figures show the Amazon is being pushed toward a “tipping point,” warned Mariana Napolitano, science director at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Brazil office.

“Significantly reducing deforestation… is imperative for humankind in the face of the twin climate and nature crises the world is facing,” she said in a statement.

– All eyes on Lula –

Environmentalists said the figures had been ready since November 3, and accused the government of stalling their release to avoid embarrassment at the United Nations’ COP27 climate conference in Egypt.

Bolsonaro, who has faced international outcry over the Amazon, did not attend the conference.

Lula did, fresh off defeating Bolsonaro in a runoff election.

The 77-year-old president-elect received a rock star’s welcome from climate campaigners hoping Brazil will now do a far better job protecting its 60-percent share of the Amazon, whose billions of carbon-absorbing trees are a key buffer against global warming.

“Brazil is back,” Lula told the conference, vowing to fight to end illegal deforestation and revive the internationally backed, $1.3-billion Amazon Fund to protect the rainforest — suspended under Bolsonaro.

Annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 75 percent during Lula’s first presidency, an accomplishment many experts attribute to respected former environment minister Marina Silva — now tipped to return to the job.

But Lula also faced criticism during his previous two terms from environmentalists — including Silva — over some policies, such as the controversial decision to push ahead with the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the Amazon.

The latest figures came the same day as a new study that found 90 percent of all land deforested in Brazil has been converted to pasture.

The Amazon is the region with the most pasture land, found the study from satellite tracking institute MapBiomas.

It found the amount of pasture in the Amazon grew 40 percent in the past two decades, as Brazil emerged as the world’s top beef powerhouse.

A sculpture entitled 'The Sphere That Changed the World' by Angela Palmer, one of the exhibits at the Science Museum in London's new show on the race to find a vaccine

From a scientist’s laptop to the syringe used to inject the UK’s first Covid vaccine dose, an exhibition that opened Wednesday in London recounts the quest to produce a coronavirus jab through objects.

The “Injecting Hope” show at the Science Museum “explores the worldwide effort to develop vaccines at pandemic speed”, looking at key moments in their design, trial, manufacture and rollout, says deputy director Julia Knights.

Items on display include artworks, notes taken by UK vaccine chief Kate Bingham during early meetings to decide the country’s strategy, and the syringe used to administer its first dose.

Machines used to manufacture the vaccine are also on show along with personal artefacts of those at the heart of the battle to beat the virus.

They include the laptop and mug that Teresa Lambe, co-developer of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, relied upon during a weekend of intense work to calculate what its chemical composition should be.

“Once they had an understanding of the genetic make-up of this new virus, she essentially sat at home, on her laptop, in her pyjamas, drinking lots of cups of tea, designing a vaccine,” explained exhibition curator Stewart Emmens.

“We have a laptop, we have a mug and we have a T-shirt on display here. It’s nice, in amongst all the science, to really drive it home that there are people behind this, just normal people doing their jobs.”

The museum began collecting objects related to Covid in February 2020 as “objects associated with epidemics and pandemics are largely missing from historic collections”, said Emmens.

– ‘Crucial’ crabs –

The first section features news footage of lockdowns and images of deserted capital cities, empty shelves, at-home schoolchildren and food delivery apps, taking visitors back to the pre-vaccine world.

After exploring the development and testing of the products, visitors then get a glimpse into the unprecedented plans to administer the vaccine to Britain’s 67 million citizens.

Along with Bingham’s scribbled notes are maps integral to the UK’s successful rollout.

“When we collected these, they were just plastered on the walls of NHS headquarters,” explained Emmens.

“Most people would think… vaccinating countries would be a very much a digital project, very much a big data, number-crunching exercise. 

“But here we have these physical maps, which were used quite early to work out where best to place vaccine centres.”

He also hopes that the show will reassure those nervous about taking the vaccine due to its speedy arrival on the market.

“Nothing focuses the mind like a global pandemic,” said Emmens. 

“The vaccines were following the same processes of approval, and trialing and testing as would normally be the case,” he said.

“But very cleverly, things were streamlined, overlapped in a way that gave the same results as you would get normally, without cutting corners.”

Sitting incongruously among the gleaming machines are also a collection of crabs.

“We do have some examples of horseshoe crabs within the exhibition, which many visitors will be very surprised by,” said Emmens.

The blood from the horseshoe crabs is highly sensitive to bacterial contamination, and is used to make sure the vaccine and the vials that carry it are clean, he explained.

“So they’ve played a… crucial if unlikely role in the vaccine story.”