“Good afternoon.
When we returned to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change in January 2023, I told President Lula in my inauguration speech that I would work not only to say what cannot be done, but to help create the ‘how it can be done.’ That phrase captures the spirit of everything we accomplished.
This press conference marks a handover within the same agenda and the same administration. The Ministry’s own official announcement defines this moment as the beginning of a new phase for the Ministry under João Paulo Ribeiro Capobianco, ensuring continuity of the policies adopted under President Lula’s administration in recent years. Capobianco contributed to the implementation of this agenda as Executive Secretary and, just days ago, successfully chaired COP15 of the Convention on Migratory Species in Campo Grande, representing Brazil before the international community. This matters because environmental policy cannot depend on improvisation or personalism. It requires direction, method, and continuity.
When we arrived in January 2023, we found a structure that needed to be rebuilt in its political, ethical, technical, administrative, and operational capacity. Over this period, we rebuilt Brazil’s environmental institutions with the incorporation of more than 1,557 public servants into the Ministry and its linked institutions, distributed among Ibama, ICMBio, and the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. We also increased the Ministry’s annual budget by 120% between 2022 and 2025, from R$ 865 million to R$ 1.9 billion. Institutional reconstruction means people, budget, governance, and implementation capacity.
This reconstruction was guided by four guidelines I have championed for more than two decades and that once again became the organizing principles of State action in environmental policy:
1) Social oversight and participation;
2) Strengthening of the National Environmental System;
3) Sustainable development; and
4) Cross-cutting environmental policy.
Environmental policy must cease to be a sectoral policy — it must be a cross-cutting policy because the environment underpins everything. And these guidelines are the method that enabled us to turn political direction into concrete results.
In sustainable development, the most visible results are on the ground. In 2025, compared with 2022, deforestation fell 50% in the Amazon and 32.3% in the Cerrado, preventing the emission of 733.9 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. In the most recent alert cycle, from August 2025 to February 2026, there was a further reduction of 33% in the Amazon and 7% in the Cerrado — if we maintain this pace, even in this particularly challenging period, we are on track to achieve the lowest rate on record. This is a joint achievement of Ibama and ICMBio together with the Federal Police, the Federal Highway Police, the National Force, and the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin).
These results did not happen on their own. We implemented Action Plans for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation across all six biomes and reactivated the Interministerial Standing Commission for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation. Ibama enforcement actions in the Amazon increased 80% and those of ICMBio by 24%, compared with 2022. Embargoed areas in the Amazon grew 51% through Ibama’s actions and 44% through ICMBio’s. The area of illegal mining in the Amazon was reduced by 50%. R$ 826 million from the Amazon Fund was invested to strengthen Ibama’s enforcement capacity.
In land governance, 12.4 million hectares of federal public lands were referred to the Land Allocation and Regularization Chamber. We carried out operations to remove illegal occupiers from eight Indigenous Lands and operations to combat environmental crimes in another 103 Indigenous Lands, with particular focus on the Yanomami, Kayapó, Sararé, Munduruku, Apyterewa, and Vale do Javari Indigenous Lands.
The União com Municípios (Union with Municipalities) program consolidated a new territorial approach to tackling deforestation: 70 of the 81 priority municipalities joined the program, with total investment of R$ 815 million — R$ 600 million from the Amazon Fund, R$ 185 million from the Floresta+ Amazônia Project, and R$ 30 million from the Fundo de Direitos Difusos (Diffuse Rights Fund). Yesterday, we signed R$ 130 million in contracts for land and environmental regularization and technical assistance that will serve more than 7,000 family farmers in 48 Amazonian municipalities. The program has also delivered more than 2,000 pieces of inspection and enforcement equipment and trained more than 500 municipal technicians.
In combating fires, in 2025 the area burned in Brazil fell 39% relative to the average of the previous eight years, with reductions of 91% in the Pantanal, 75% in the Amazon, and 7% in the Cerrado. All the tragedies that were averted cannot be tallied — we only see those that, unfortunately, were not prevented. But these numbers reflect a concrete and unprecedented effort. We hired an unprecedented 4,358 wildfire brigade members in 2025, a 25% increase over the previous year. Ibama and ICMBio deployed 4 aircraft, 6 helicopters, 633 vessels, and 2,600 operational vehicles. R$ 585 million was invested in fire prevention and response in the Amazon, the Cerrado, and the Pantanal, transferred to States and Municipalities. On the regulatory front, we established the National Integrated Fire Management Policy and developed Fire Prevention and Response Plans for the Pantanal and Amazon biomes.
In climate finance, there was a shift in scale and in the very paradigm, with MMA working jointly with the Ministry of Finance. The most established instruments – the Fundo Clima (Climate Fund) and Eco Invest Brasil (green finance platform) – have mobilized R$ 179 billion since 2023. The Fundo Clima alone, which had averaged R$ 400 million annually until 2022, has mobilized R$ 52.4 billion since 2023 and R$ 34.6 billion in 2025 alone. Added to these are the Amazon Fund, the Plataforma Brasil de Investimentos Climáticos (Brazil Climate Investment Platform), and the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, which, depending on the exchange rate, already accounts for roughly R$ 350 billion mobilized for the ecological transition — the engine for a new cycle of prosperity that combines conservation and sustainable development.
We restored the central role of the National Environmental Council (CONAMA) and the Tripartite Commission. In federal environmental licensing, Ibama reached 850 licenses in 2025, a 51% increase over 2024 and the highest level in the past decade, with 67 projects licensed under the Novo PAC (federal infrastructure investment program), oversight of 19,000 km of transmission lines, 9,700 km of highways, and 10,500 km of railways. In environmental compensation, R$ 446 million was approved for new investments in Protected Areas, with R$ 354 million executed in three years — representing 54% of everything executed since 2002. At the same time, the Ministry achieved the highest rating — Level 3 (Full Compliance) — in the public integrity assessment by the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU). What makes the difference is well-formulated public policies and well-designed, adequately structured public institutions.
In social participation, we put society back at the center of public policy formulation and implementation. The 5th National Environmental Conference mobilized more than 1.2 million people in 2,729 municipalities and consolidated 104 proposals approved by civil society. The 6th National Children and Youth Environmental Conference mobilized more than 2.2 million children and young people and reached 8,732 schools in 2,307 municipalities. In the Participatory Multi-Year Plan (PPA), more than 58 programs are related to the environmental agenda, and the “Enfrentamento da Emergência Climática” (Tackling the Climate Emergency) program received the most votes, with 20,534 votes. And in climate governance, we restored the Interministerial Committee on Climate Change, which brings together 23 ministries and agencies, chaired by the Chief of Staff’s Office with the MMA serving as Executive Secretariat.
We are only an agricultural powerhouse because we are a water powerhouse, and we are only a water powerhouse because we are a forest powerhouse. This understanding guided our action in the sociobioeconomy. In 2023, we created the National Secretariat of Bioeconomy — an unprecedented institutional innovation that was only made possible because President Lula embraced the proposal. In 2024, we established the National Bioeconomy Strategy and the National Bioeconomy Commission, with 34 members — 17 from government and 17 from civil society, including indigenous peoples, traditional communities, academia, and the private sector. And today we launch the National Bioeconomy Development Plan — the PNDBio — structured around four areas: bioindustry and biomanufacturing, biomass, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and sociobioeconomy, with 8 missions, 21 targets, and 185 strategic actions.
Also today, we announced R$ 350 million from the Amazon Fund for sociobioeconomy and innovation, benefiting more than 60 cooperatives and 5,000 families. The Prospera Sociobio (sociobioeconomy support) program already mobilizes R$ 120 million and directly benefits nearly 30,000 people, with initiatives such as payment for environmental services linked to pirarucu management and the certification of extractive products as organic. Today 81,393 families benefit from the Bolsa Verde (Green Stipend) program, with more than R$ 315 million transferred. We will only achieve zero deforestation if we have adequate economic instruments so that a protected forest is more profitable than a destroyed one.
In the field of climate emergency, Brazil returned to planning with ambition and institutional grounding. The new NDC, submitted in Baku during COP29, established a target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 59% to 67% by 2035, compared with 2005. The Plano Clima (Climate Plan) now guides Brazilian climate policy through 2035, with 8 mitigation plans, 16 adaptation plans, and 5 cross-cutting strategies for climate action. The AdaptaCidades (Climate Adaptation for Cities) initiative launched a strategy covering 581 cities, reaching more than 50 million people. Also in 2024, the country approved and submitted to the UN its First National Biennial Transparency Report.
At COP30, Brazil led by example. The Belém Package comprised 29 decisions adopted by consensus, including advances in just transition, adaptation finance, trade, gender, and technology. The Baku–Belém Roadmap set a US$ 1.3 trillion goal for climate finance. The Global Ethical Stocktake — an initiative led by President Lula and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres — mobilized 128 leaders across six continents and social actors in 49 countries. And the Tropical Forests Forever Fund received pledges of US$ 6.7 billion and now has the endorsement of 63 countries.
In conservation, restoration, and environmental quality, the measures were foundational. Nineteen federal Protected Areas were created or expanded, adding more than 1.7 million hectares, including Albardão National Park, with approximately 1 million hectares — the largest protected area outside the Amazon. With this, 21% of Brazil’s land and marine territory is now under Protected Areas. US$ 321.4 million from international sources was allocated to Protected Areas, and the ARPA Communities Program was expanded with a projected US$ 120 million to benefit 130,000 people in 60 sustainable-use Protected Areas in the Amazon.
In restoration, Brazil reached 3.4 million hectares undergoing recovery of native vegetation, toward the target of 12 million hectares under the Planaveg (National Plan for Native Vegetation Recovery). The Environmental Fund from the TAC Rio Doce (Rio Doce Settlement Agreement) was structured with R$ 8.13 billion over 19 years. BNDES’s Restaura Amazônia (Amazon Restoration) program allocated R$ 450 million for ecological restoration projects in seven States. And the first Cotas de Reserva Ambiental (Environmental Reserve Quotas) in Brazil were launched — an unprecedented and innovative instrument.
In forest management, 301,000 hectares of Public Forests have been placed under concession since 2023, totaling 1.58 million hectares, including Jatuarana National Forest in Amazonas, the largest forest concession in Brazil’s history, with 450,000 hectares. Last week, at the B3 stock exchange, we held the first federal concession auction focused on forest conservation and restoration with carbon credit generation: Bom Futuro National Forest in Rondônia, with approximately 90,000 hectares, a projected investment of R$ 87 million and a 40-year contract, including participation of the Karitiana indigenous people in the native seed and seedling supply chain. This is an unprecedented model in the country, one that transforms forest restoration into an economic activity. A forest inventory was conducted covering 600 million hectares.
In biodiversity, we launched the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (EPANB). And at COP15 of the Convention on Migratory Species, hosted by Brazil in Campo Grande, the expansion of protection for 40 new species was approved, in addition to measures announced by President Lula that extended protection over more than 148,000 hectares in the Pantanal and the Cerrado.
In the urban and environmental quality agenda, the country reached 570 air quality monitoring stations, 44% more than in 2022. In waste management, we regulated the Reverse Logistics for Plastic Packaging and the Citizen Selective Collection Module, raising the recycling target from 22% to 32%. Under the Recycling Incentive Law, R$ 665 million was approved for investment mobilization across 303 projects — directly supporting waste pickers.
In animal protection and rights, the SinPatinhas (national pet registry) surpassed 1 million registered animals. During Animal Week, we launched the National Ethical Population Management Program for Dogs and Cats and established the National Animal Rights Conference. The Justiça por Orelha (animal cruelty penalties) decree increased fines for animal cruelty — which had been frozen since 2008 at between R$ 500 and R$ 3,000 — to between R$ 1,500 and R$ 50,000, potentially reaching R$ 1 million with aggravating factors. And we signed into law Law 15,355/2026, which creates the Policy for the Sheltering and Management of Rescued Animals (Amar), integrating animal protection into Civil Defense contingency plans.
These environmental results are part of a government that has rebuilt State capacities and delivered objective social and economic outcomes. Deforestation fell and agribusiness continued to grow — 525 new markets were opened for Brazilian agriculture since 2023, exports reached US$ 169.2 billion in 2025, and the Mercosur–European Union agreement was concluded. The annual unemployment rate was 5.6% in 2025 — the lowest since the series began in 2012 — and Brazil was removed from the Hunger Map according to FAO/UN technical criteria. Consistent, well-designed, and well-implemented public policies deliver results.
I see political action as service. When people ask me whether I am an optimist or a pessimist, I always say I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. What we must be is persistent. We walked this path and only walked it because we are all angels with a single wing, and we can only fly when we embrace one another. The image changes when reality changes. And reality has changed.
I thank President Lula for his trust in this third term in office. I thank my friend, companion of many journeys, João Paulo Capobianco, the secretaries, and the public servants who endured the most difficult period and committed themselves to rebuilding the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. I also thank the public servants of Ibama, ICMBio, the Brazilian Forest Service, and the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden.
I thank our partners — international organizations, civil society, the private sector, the public sector, members of committees and councils — who believed in this agenda and dedicated their time and resources.
I also thank the press that covers this subject with seriousness and commitment to the facts. Combating disinformation is as important as combating the climate emergency — and journalism that investigates, provides context, and reports with rigor is an indispensable part of this fight. Without quality information, there is no informed social participation, no legitimate accountability, and no environmental democracy.
I thank the Chief of Staff’s Office, the Secretariat-General of the Presidency, the Secretariat of Institutional Relations, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the Ministry of Management and Innovation, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Secretariat of Social Communication — and, through them, the entire federal executive branch — who understood that the environmental agenda is not the agenda of one ministry; it is a government-wide agenda.
And I wish João Paulo Capobianco the same persistence and perseverance in this phase of consolidation and advancement of environmental policies. It is not just about saying what cannot be done — it is about establishing how it can be done, and how it can be done the right way”.
Special Advisory for Social Communication of the MMA
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