Maria Osmarina Marina da Silva Vaz de Lima (born Maria Osmarina da Silva; 8 February 1958), known as Marina Silva, is a Brazilian politician and environmentalist, currently serving as Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, a position she previously held from 2003 to 2008. She is the founder and former spokeswoman of the Sustainability Network (REDE). A former senator for the state of Acre between 1995 and 2011, she has been a federal deputy for the state of São Paulo since 2023. She ran unsuccessfully for president in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Silva was a member of the PT until 2009, and served as a senator before becoming Minister of the Environment in 2003. She ran for president in the 2010 Brazilian elections as the candidate for the Green Party, coming in 3rd with 19% of the first-round vote. In April 2014, Eduardo Campos announced his candidacy for the 2014 presidential election, naming Marina Silva as his vice presidential candidate. After Campos's death in a plane crash on August, she was selected to run as the Socialist Party's candidate for the presidency, winning 21% of the vote and coming in 3rd. She again ran for president in the 2018 election, this time as the nominee for the Sustainability Network, finishing in 8th place with 1% of the vote.
Silva has won a number of awards from US and international organizations in recognition of her environmental activism. In 2010, she, along with Cécile Duflot, Monica Frassoni, Elizabeth May and Renate Künast, were named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top global thinkers for taking Green mainstream. She was one of eight people chosen to carry the Olympic flag for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
Marina Silva was born Maria Osmarina da Silva in the small village of Breu Velho, 70 km outside Rio Branco, Acre. Silva is a descendant of Portuguese and black African ancestors in both her maternal and paternal lines. She was one of eleven children in a community of rubber tappers on the Bagaço rubber tree plantation (Portuguese Seringal Bagaço), in the western state of Acre. Growing up, she survived five bouts of malaria in addition to cases of hepatitis and metal poisoning.
At age 16, young Marina moved to the state capital, Rio Branco, to study and receive treatment for hepatitis. She was taken in by nuns in a convent and received a Catholic education. There, she became the first person in her family to learn to read and write. After leaving the convent, she went to work as a housemaid in exchange for lodging. She completed her undergraduate degree in history from the Federal University of Acre at 26 and became increasingly politically active. In 1984 Silva helped create Acre's first workers' union.
She led demonstrations called empates with Chico Mendes to warn against deforestation and the outplacement of forest communities from their traditional locations.
She helped Chico Mendes to lead the trade union movement, being elected as councillor of Rio Branco in 1988 for her first mandate in a public office.
In 1994, Silva was the first rubber tapper ever elected to the Federal Senate. As a native Amazonian and a senator, she built support for environmental protection of the reserves as well as for social justice and sustainable development in the Amazon region.
A member of the Workers' Party, Marina Silva was appointed Environment Minister by Lula in his first term.
Also in 2005, Silva established her main lines of action for the next two years: social participation, sustainable development, creation of a National Environmental System, and an Integrated Environmental Policy. As she said, "Our ministry is new. It's only 13 years old, and it needs to be rebuilt".
Deforestation decreased by 59% from 2004 to 2007, during which she implemented an integrated government policy. The policy, also known as, "The Action Plan For The Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon," It simultaneously fostered sustainable development, favored territorial zoning, and attached greater value to standing forests. It also incorporated elements from international conventions and documents. "All of this demonstrates that, when there is integrated planning and effort, it is truly possible to change the picture," Silva said in a statement to the Embassy of Brazil in London.
In 2005, Silva was confronted by Paulo Adário, coordinator of Greenpeace Brazil, over her environmental actions during her tenure in the ministry. Since her tenure began, Silva, together with the Federal Police, the Brazilian Army and the Federal Highway Police, performed 32 operations against illegal deforestation in the Amazon. However, Adário claims that his organization monitors the Amazon region and that only one such operation was conducted in October 2004, in the town of Itaituba, Pará. According to him, even if the 32 operations had actually been carried out, they would represent only half of what was anticipated in the National Plan to Combat Deforestation.
She remained in office until 2008 and received several criticisms from entrepreneurs (mainly related to agribusiness) on account of delays in granting permits for projects with large environmental impact. In early 2005, however, she stated that she would not give up upon facing challenges even if they were imposed by the government to which she belonged, like the controversy over the São Francisco River Diversion Project, and the building of the BR-163 highway through the rainforest: "I don't admit defeat, just challenges that must be overcome".
Silva resigned from the Lula government in May 2008. She was replaced by Carlos Minc. Silva cited "the growing resistance found by our team in important sectors of the government and society" as the reason for her resignation. Tension between her and the rest of the Lula administration increased when President Lula da Silva chose Minister of Strategic Affairs Roberto Mangabeira Unger to coordinate a sustainable development plan for the Amazon, instead of her. She had become increasingly isolated in Lula da Silva's government due to her views against hydroelectric dams, biofuels, and genetically modified crops.
On 19 August 2009, Silva announced her switch from the Workers' Party to the Green Party, primarily in protest against the environmental policies endorsed by the PT. Confirming the expectations, Marina Silva launched her candidacy to the 2010 election under the Green Party ticket on 16 May 2010 in the city of Nova Iguaçu, state of Rio de Janeiro. Silva said she wanted to be "the first black woman of poor origin" to become president of Brazil.
In her campaign, Silva defended the "exercise of citizen-based political principles and values", "education for the knowledge society", "economy applied to a sustainable society", "social protection, health, welfare and 3rd generation of social programs", "quality of life and safety for all Brazilians", and "strengthening of culture and diversity".
With her speech against the endemic corruption in Brazil (see A Privataria Tucana and Mensalão scandal), and in favor of sustainable development (with a due consideration to environmental issues), Silva managed to attract the middle class sectors disillusioned with the government of the Fernando Henrique Cardoso's PSDB and dissatisfied with the compensatory social policies of Lula da Silva's administration. As a result, she came to be seen as an alternative.
Marina Silva received strong support among young and highly educated voters. Running on a small-party ticket, she had about 1/20 of the TV time compared to the other two biggest party coalitions. Opinion polls notwithstanding, she received 19.4% of the votes cast. This number far exceeded earlier estimates (more than double), but not enough to join the runoff against Dilma Rousseff or José Serra.