Earlier this year Mr. Bolsonaro announced an Amazon Council headed by the vice president, composed of military and cabinet members.

At Davos he claimed that poor people destroy the forest because they have to eat.

Mr. Salles has a history of cozying up to infractors, shunning specialists and trolling environmentalists.

In public, he often speaks in platitudes and increasingly pays lip service to environmental concerns.

In a recently released video of a cabinet meeting, he encouraged weakening environmental protections while the press is distracted by the pandemic.