--- --- Oct 30, 2025 # Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva President, Brazil by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/) ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Photo: Ton Molina—NurPhoto/Getty Images) In November 2022, just a few weeks after winning election, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva turned up in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, with a message intended to cheer up attendees at that year’s U.N. climate conference. “Brazil is back,” he told an ebullient crowd. After years of accelerating Amazon deforestation under his right-wing predecessor, Lula aimed to transform Brazil into a climate leader. Hosting COP30, this year’s climate conference, in the Amazon is intended as a feather in the cap of his climate work. And on many fronts, he has succeeded. Since taking office, the Brazilian government has cracked down on illegal deforestation leading to the lowest levels of Amazon destruction in a decade. And the government has pioneered new ways to pay for protecting nature, including the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, a $125 billion fund aimed at preserving tropical forests while giving investors a financial return. And he has tried to lean into the uniquely well-positioned sectors of Brazil’s economy to make the case that addressing climate change can deliver benefits. (Brazil has one of the world’s cleanest electric grids and its agricultural sector has tried to contribute to bio-based climate solutions like low-carbon fuels). Nonetheless questions have persisted about his support for new oil drilling—including in the Amazon region he has promised to protect. In Lula’s telling, it’s part of a pragmatic approach to make climate work sustainable. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326535/luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326535/luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva/"},"headline":"Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva","datePublished":"2025-10-30T11:30:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T02:30:13.190Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326535/luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva/","keywords":["TIME100 Climate 2025","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696865e8c592b694/6998cb07d32e93863acd7779/Leaders-Luiz-Inacio-Lula-da-Silva.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"creator":"Justin Worland","articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696865e8c592b694/6998cb07d32e93863acd7779/Leaders-Luiz-Inacio-Lula-da-Silva.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time100-climate-2025/","name":"TIME100 Climate 2025"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-climate-2025/7326535/luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva/","name":"Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva"}}]}] ```