Brazil is the country with one of the greatest potential for hydroelectric power generation in the world and it has advanced technologies for these types of projects. Plants that were built most recently, such as Santo Antonio and Jirau (along the Madeira River in the state of Rondônia), and Belo Monte (along the Xingu River in the state of Pará), have adopted run-of-the-river systems that feature reduced-size reservoirs, which means less flooded areas.

In 2006, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the Osório wind farm went into operation. With 150 MW of installed capacity, it was, at that time, the largest wind power generation complex in Latin America. In April of that year, President Lula was on site to inaugurate operations at the first tower. By December of that year, 75 towers had been installed. However, by the close of 2015, Rio Grande do Sul will be home to a wind farm that will assume the title of largest in Latin America – the Campos Neutrais Wind Complex.

Brazil is investing in an energy matrix that is increasingly clean

When Brazil’s PT Party won the presidency, it brought with it the certainty that a country in pursuit of sustainable development should invest in an energy matrix that is increasingly clean and renewable.

The Dilma administration has advanced the effective implementation of Protected Areas (UCs) through three priority lines of action:

More than ever before, the administrations of presidents Lula and Dilma have strengthened the national system of protected areas through the creation, expansion and consolidation of national parks, national forests and extractive reserves.

With the Worker’s Party (PT) at the helm of the federal government, extractivism – the sustainable use of natural resources by peoples who live in the forest – was recognized, protected and promoted.

Given the advances made in monitoring the Amazon via satellite data, during President Lula’s second term in office, Brazil’s federal government launched the Satellite Monitoring of Deforestation in Brazilian Biomes Project (PMDBBS).

In addition to its monitoring and containment activities, the Federal Government instituted programs in support of municipal governments working to combat the highest rates of deforestation, in a manner such that the problem would not return following the conclusion of operations.

A major initiative of the Lula and Dilma administrations to combat deforestation, Operation Arco Verde Terra Legal (Operation Arco Verde Land Legalization), introduced sustainable alternatives to 43 municipalities in the Amazon. These cities were not chosen at random. Rather, when taken together, in 2009, they accounted for 53% of deforestation in the region.

Amazon deforestation falls 79% in ten years

Under Lula and Dilma, deforestation in the Amazon has dropped significantly – from 27,772 km² of deforested in 2004 to only 5,891 km² in 2013. A decrease of 79%.

“Deforestation cannot be pardoned. This is not for revenge. It’s that people have to realize that the environment is something very precious and we must preserve it. And it is possible to preserve the environment, highly possible, and to produce our food (...) we are without question among the largest food producers in the world, and I think, in the coming decades, we will become the largest producer of food. And we can do this while preserving the environment, as we have systematically made our efforts in that direction.”