Irish Examiner view: Outcome of Brazil's election will have a direct impact on climate

If former president Lula is elected again, he will need the support of the entire global community

The incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, has presided over rapidly increasing deforestation in the Amazon basin, and 680,000 Brazilians died in the pandemic under his watch. Picture: Andre Coelho/AP

All the early indications in the election in Brazil — the world’s fourth largest democracy — indicate defeat for the hardline nationalist Jair Bolsonaro who has presided over rapidly increasing deforestation in the Amazon basin and whose management of the Covid epidemic, when 680,000 citizens died, was disastrous.

If the nation’s electronic voting system delivers victory for his left-wing opponent this will constitute a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.