Climate protection: USA are promising money for Brazil’s Amazon fund

After the change of government in Brazil, the US government promised financial aid for a fund to protect the rainforest in the Amazon region. This was announced by US President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after a meeting at the White House on Friday (local time).

“The United States announced its intention to work with Congress to provide funding for programs to protect and conserve the Brazilian Amazon, including initial support for the Amazon Fund,” they said in a joint statement. Germany and Norway also play a key role in the fund.

The so-called Amazon fund for forest and climate protection was paralyzed by the government of Lula’s predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who had been voted out of office, because of disagreements about the use of the money. Germany suspended its payments. For the right-wing populist Bolsonaro, the Amazon region primarily meant untapped economic potential. The left-wing politician Lula, who was sworn in as President of Brazil for the third time on January 1, was not exactly seen as a Green in his previous terms (early 2003 – late 2010), but has now promised to prioritize environmental and climate protection.

For the preservation of the planet

“For the past few years, the Amazon rainforest has been attacked by political irrationality – human irrationality – because we had a president who sent people to cut down trees,” Lula said at the start of the meeting with Biden. Taking care of the Amazon means taking care of planet earth. US President Biden also emphasized that the fight against the climate crisis is an important task for the US and Brazil. After the meeting, Lula said that the talks with Biden were not specifically about the fund, but that he assumed the US wanted to get involved.

The money from the “Amazon Fund” will go towards protecting nature in the Brazilian Amazon and fighting deforestation. The fund was launched by Lula’s government in 2008 during his previous tenure. It is managed by the Brazilian development bank BNDES.

After Lula took office, Germany now wants to provide around 200 million euros for the protection of the rainforest and thus also the global climate – including 35 million euros for the “Amazonia Fund”, which had previously been frozen. Norway also wants to resume rainforest cooperation. France and the European Union are studying the possibility of contributing to the fund, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said during a visit to Brazil this week.

Biden: Democracy “core of our strength”

At the meeting with Lula, Biden also addressed the recent storming of the parliamentary seats of both countries. “The strong democracy of both our nations has been tested,” Biden said. “We must continue to stand up for democracy, for the democratic values ​​that are at the core of our strength.” Referring to his predecessor Bolsonaro, Lula replied: “Brazil has isolated itself for four years.”

Lula’s had won the runoff election for the presidency against Bolsonaro at the end of October, but the change of power in January was accompanied by serious riots. Bolsonaro supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the seat of government in the capital Brasília. The outbreak of violence was a grim reminder of the storming of the US Capitol just over two years ago, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump forcibly entered Parliament in Washington.

Lula openly criticized Bolsonaro at the meeting with Biden, saying his predecessor didn’t put much stock in international relations. “His world began and ended with fake news, morning, afternoon and night,” Lula said. “Sounds familiar,” Biden replied – an obvious reference to his predecessor Trump.