Brazil's elections matter for the planet. This is why.

There are few national elections that carry as much environmental weight as Brazil's presidential race. And this one is being watched from far beyond the country's boundaries. Home to the largest section of the Amazon rainforest , Brazil is guardian of a carbon sink of vital importance, making the country's conservation policies globally relevant. Environmentalists have already voiced alarm at Flávio Bolsonaro — son of right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro — coming out 2% ahead of incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the first round of elections. "It's going to be a second coming of Bolsonaro, therefore a more radical Bolsonaro," said Claudio Angelo, international policy coordinator at Climate Observatory, a network of Brazilian NGOs.