Recently in Brazil traditional forces have gained political power. President Lula won again and built a governing coalition from among the most conservative forces in the country's political spectrum. Since then, the president has said things like: Environmental concerns are an obstacle to development. This may seem like a sure sign that energy producers and old fashioned agribusinesses are winning out over the new wave of sustainable production. This could be true, but only in the short run.

Over the longer horizon, different powers are emerging. Take another example: For more than one hundred years, conventional wisdom has said that Brazil has no racism, leading to a mistaken belief that Brazil had a peacefully coexisting, multiethnic population. It's no longer possible now to hide ourselves from the huge and persistent racial gap. In recent months the country has been debating, as never before, its racial inequalities. Public and corporate policies have emerged to empower Afro-Brazilians. Women are also stepping forward in business and public life. The Supreme Court chairman is a woman, Ellen Northfleet.

And global concerns are encouraging progressive changes in Brazil. The world's growing environmental concerns make it hard for Brazil's government to ignore Amazonian deforestation. Local concerns are losing strength vis-a-vis global environmental NGOs and other networks. Also, new business leaders with a sustainable long term view of business development accumulate power in Brazil and watch for environmental concerns.

Some large traditional businesses in mining and steelmaking seem to be gaining power too. This is especially true for those companies that are going global, like Vale do Rio Doce and Gerdau. Both companies have recently bought overseas assets. Vale, an iron ore producer, bought Canadian Inco to become the world's second largest mining company. But even while these companies grow, new sustainable technologies develop concurrently and pave the way for new powers and a new future for Brazil.