March 3, 2025
Brazil’s ongoing fight against deforestation wouldn’t be possible, let alone successful, without the dedication and ingenuity of environmental activist and elected official Marina Silva (Brazil, 1996). Currently serving as Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change for her second term, Marina plays a critical role in the global effort to reverse climate change.
It’s been nearly 30 years since Marina’s Goldman Prize win, but her work has never been more relevant—or impactful. In fact, she was recently named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024. Keep reading to learn more about Marina’s background, career trajectory, and incredible contributions to the environment.
Building Resilience as a Rubber Tapper
Marina—born Maria Osmarina da Silva Vaz de Lima in 1958—grew up in a small rubber tapping village in Brazil called Breu Velho. Alongside her 10 siblings, Marina worked every day on the rubber tree trails, extracting latex from the trees’ bark to help provide for her family.
Throughout her childhood, Marina experienced the disastrous effects of deforestation up close, not only witnessing the rainforest’s destruction but watching her community endure diseases the construction crews carried with them.
By the time Marina was 15, she had lost her mother and three siblings, as well as battled a series of illnesses, including malaria poisoning and three bouts of hepatitis. She moved to Rio Branco to get treatment for her hepatitis, where she found work at a nunnery and committed to learning to read and write.
Her diligence led to a degree in history from the Federal University of Acre, and later postgraduate degrees in Psychoanalytic Theory and Psychopedagogy from the University of Brasília and the Catholic University of Brasília, respectively.
Making a Career out of Fighting Deforestation
Marina’s work as an environmental activist began after she took a course on rural union leadership taught by rubber tapper and environmental advocate Chico Mendes, whose assassination in 1988 inspired the founding of the Goldman Prize. After attending many deforestation protests, she and Chico created the Central Única dos Trabalhadores, a union for rubber tappers.
Fueled by her passion for protecting her community, Marina ran for public office in 1988, and was elected city councilor of Rio Branco. In 1990, she became a state deputy, then made history in 1994 as the youngest person to be elected to Brazil’s senate, at the age of 32. During this time, she helped establish a two-million-hectare reserve managed by traditional communities, a feat which earned her the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1996.
She continued her environmental work by serving as the Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2008 under Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Marina’s goal to preserve the Amazon rainforest—and support the people who rely on it for their home and livelihoods—shaped her political strategy.
As Minister, Marina established the Amazon Fund to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, created the Brazilian Forest Service, opened a biodiversity institute in honor of Chico, and oversaw the protection of millions of hectares of land, accomplishments which drastically reduced deforestation.
In a 2024 interview with Yale Environment 360, Marina said, “In Lula’s first term as president, we achieved an 83% reduction in deforestation and avoided releasing five billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. It was the biggest contribution to CO2 reduction ever made.”
Refining Her Goals, Reimagining a Better Planet
After resigning from her role in 2008—and watching deforestation skyrocket during President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration—Marina was appointed to a second term as the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change in 2023, under President Lula once again. Before agreeing to the position, Marina had explicit terms: achieve zero Amazon deforestation by 2030, as opposed to simply implementing measures that offset the effects of deforestation.
Home to roughly 10% of the world’s plant and animal biodiversity, the Amazon rainforest is essential to global climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. As climate change worsens, Brazil’s impact on the planet—and Marina’s decisions as Minister—have never been more apparent or consequential.
Marina’s deforestation plan addresses several core areas: sustainable development, land planning, regulatory measures, and curbing illegal activity. She’s already reduced deforestation by creating economic consequences for illegal mining and logging, and developed a plan to improve all of Brazil’s environmental biomes, not just the Amazon.
Those moves have put Brazil on track to reach its goal. Deforestation was down 50% in 2023 compared to 2022, and 31% in 2024 compared to 2023.
However, for lasting global climate change reduction, Marina knows that Brazil needs international cooperation to phase out fossil fuels and commit to renewable energy. One opportunity for collaboration and action is the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 30), which Brazil will host in November 2025 in Belém.
Committed to Championing Socio-Environmental Causes
Marina’s four-decade career in environmental policy and activism has had a profound impact on her country—and the world. She is responsible for engineering policies and systems that already have and will continue to reduce Amazon deforestation. Plus, her passion for socio-environmental causes—which address the relationship between people and the natural world—has inspired countless everyday people and politicians around the world to advocate for effective environmental change.
Learn more about Marina’s ongoing work and goals.
