Opinion – Fundamental Science: The first 30 days of the Lula government in science and the environment

If the federal government’s mandate were a medicine developed in four years, we could call the first 30 days a “pre-clinical trial”, a phase that does not allow robust conclusions, but it is the first step to understand whether one day it can or not succeed. Under the “microscope”, preliminary data on science and the environment involve the four main ministries that orbit these agendas: Education (MEC); Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI); Health (MS) and Environment and Climate Change (MMAMC).

Camilo Santana (MEC) – After four years of inertia and allegations of corruption involving pastors and gold bars, the MEC is now headed by the former governor of Ceará, who arrives with strong credentials in relation to basic education, declared his priority focus. Of the top 20 positions in the Basic Education Development Index (IDEB), there are 10 municipalities in Ceará, including the first place, Sobral.

The petista, however, will have more difficulties in proving such credentials in higher education, which concentrates the largest portion of Brazilian scientific production. Although the State University of Ceará ranks 94th globally in Times Higher Education, both this and two other universities in the state face structural problems, especially on campuses in the interior.

In any case, some movements have already been well received by the scientific community, such as the appointment of prof. Mercedes Bustamante (UERJ) for the presidency of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), replacing a predecessor whose curricular quality was quite questionable, to say the least. Even so far, the greatest media impact of the MEC is the announcement of readjustment in the values ​​of CAPES graduate scholarships, frozen for more than 10 years.

Luciana Santos (MCTI) – The nomination of the PCdoB president received much criticism, since the government of Pernambuco in which she served as vice-president ended its activities with strong rejection. She also weighs a conviction, in 2019, for administrative impropriety related to her period as mayor of Olinda, on appeal. However, in her favor, her experience as Secretary of Science and Technology of Pernambuco (2009-10) and reports by scientists attest to the good performance of the then vice-governor for the improvement of the Foundation for Support to Science and Technology of Pernambuco (FACEPE) ).

As a minister, the highlights so far are the celebration of international cooperation with Argentina and the appointment of Ricardo Galvão to the presidency of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the country’s main research promotion body. In 2019, the physicist was exonerated from the direction of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) by the Bolsonaro government, after speaking out against denialism about the fires in the Amazon. Like Camilo Santana, Santos also announced readjustments for CNPq graduate scholarships.

Nísia Trindade (MS) – The appointment of the career server and former president of Fiocruz represents the return of attention to Public Health in fact, after four years of a disastrous administration, which left the mark of almost 700 thousand dead by Covid-19 in Brazil . In her opening speech, she guided the strengthening of the National Immunization Program (PNI), which once pointed to the country as a world standard and today bitter one of the biggest failures of childhood vaccination in history.

The most forceful action, for now, was the “revoking” of several ordinances from the previous government, which limited resources for cancer prevention and detection and undermined the participation of civil society in institutional spaces, among others. In recent weeks, the minister personally visited the villages of the Yanomami Indigenous Land and, once the magnitude of the degree of infectious diseases and malnutrition was verified, she declared a public emergency, moving a team, vaccines and medicine to the place.

Marina Silva (MMAMC) – Marina’s return to the portfolio was celebrated by Brazilian and foreign environmentalists. The Amazon will certainly be the visiting card of the ministry’s actions, just as Marina will be the visiting card of Brazil in the discussion of the theme. After all, the eyes of the planet are focused on the country’s environmental issues, after four years of what we can call “against the Ministry of the Environment”. A sign of this is the announced return of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm). Introduced in his first administration, in 2004, he was responsible for the sharp drop in deforestation rates in the following years, opposite to the panorama presented at the end of the Bolsonaro administration.

Contrary to what she experienced in the first Lula administrations, with the pressure of building hydroelectric plants, Marina will probably not have many political obstacles to overcome in the region. However, the Network’s parliamentarian will face controversial issues, such as the growing advance of agribusiness in other biomes, impacts of the change in the energy matrix and other projects that will be crucial for the PT’s developmental proposal. For the time being, the nomination of the environmentalist politician Rodrigo Agostinho (PSB) for the presidency of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) has been positively received, as well as that of the scientist Raoni Rajão (UFMG) for the Department of Control of Deforestation and Burning from MMAMC.

It is necessary to point out that there is a lack of samples in this “pre-clinical test”, after all, science and the environment are not exclusive to these folders. Practically all ministries have secretariats on these issues and they, with their numerous demands, will need to dispute one thing that is lacking: budget. If the mission would already be difficult if these folders presented some order, the scenario of structural and intellectual dismantling left by the Bolsonaro administration exacerbates the problem.

The conclusion that the “study” allows is that the results are promising. But, like any previous research, it requires time, adaptations, control and, above all, vigilance for the final product to succeed. That role is ours. Let us be vigilant.

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Hugo Fernandes, biologist and professor at UECE.

The text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Serrapilheira Institute or Folha de S.Paulo.

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