Lula cheered for new climate policies after Brazil election

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva holds a news conference along with Former Minister of Environment Marina Silva, after casting his vote during the presidential election, in Sao Bernardo do Campo, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Mariana Greif/File Photo

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Environmentalists, world leaders and sustainable investors on Monday cheered the victory of Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has promised to protect the Amazon rainforest and restore Brazil's leadership on climate change.

In his victory speech, Lula pledged to clamp down on illegal logging, mining and land grabbing that have driven the surging deforestation of the Amazon over the past four years under President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's election.