Lula defends agriculture and asks Germans not to believe in “myths” about biofuels

The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), defended Brazilian agribusiness this Monday, 20th, and asked Germans not to believe in “myths” about the production of biofuels in the country. The speech took place in front of businesspeople at the Brazil-Germany economic meeting, in Hannover, Germany.

Lula stated that there is a “mythology said by some who are against technological innovation in the fuel area, that Brazilian fuel hinders food production”. The president said that, “if anyone wants to believe this, I invite them to visit Brazil”.

“No one would be crazy to replace food production with biodiesel production. Nobody eats diesel or gasoline, people eat food. We know the importance of ensuring that both sectors can develop simultaneously”, said the PT member.

Lula reinforced that “there is no chance of Brazil stopping producing food or occupying the Atlantic Forest or the Amazon because of biofuel production”. He stated that “there is often misinformation and technical documents that do not match reality”.

“I said to Merz and I will repeat it to businesspeople: any doubts you have regarding the relationship with Brazil, biofuel, the energy transition, critical mining companies and rare earths, do not let yourself be seduced by the first opinion”, declared the President of the Republic.

On Sunday, Lula had already said at the opening of the Hannover Industrial Fair that “it is necessary to combat false narratives regarding the sustainability” of Brazilian agriculture.

Lula stated that “transport is now one of the main bottlenecks in decarbonization in Europe” and asked that the European Union not create barriers against biofuels. The PT member said that “proposals that ignore sustainability practices in the use of Brazilian land are on the table” of the customs bloc.

“Unilateral carbon calculation mechanisms also came into force in January that disregard the low level of emissions in the Brazilian production process based on renewable sources. These initiatives could make it difficult to offer clean energy to Europeans at a critical time. Raising environmental standards is necessary, but it is not correct to adopt criteria that ignore another reality and harm Brazilian producers”, declared the president.

Change in Brazil’s status and critical minerals

Lula once again said that Brazil is willing to “stop being a developing country”. He spoke about the exploration of critical minerals precisely as a way for the country to become a rich economy.

“We offer growing opportunities in sectors that are decisive for the future. We are expanding in critical minerals and rare earths, essential for the digital energy transition. We will not accept models that reduce our territory to the extraction of resources aimed at meeting only external demands. We will ensure that Brazil’s riches serve the development of the population and Brazilian companies”, said the Brazilian president in front of Brazilian and German businesspeople and politicians.