Amazon fires are fuelling tempers
AMID global concern about raging fires in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil’s Government has complained it is being targeted in a smear campaign by critics of controversial President Jair Bolsonaro.
The threat to what some call “the lungs of the planet” has ignited a bitter dispute about who is to blame during the tenure of a leader who has described Brazil’s rainforest protections as an obstacle to economic development.
Mr Bolsonaro traded Twitter jabs on Thursday with France’s president over the fires. Emmanuel Macron called the wildfires an international crisis and said the leaders of the G7 nations should hold urgent discussions about them at their summit in France this weekend.
“Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rainforest – the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen – is on fire,” Macron tweeted.
Mr Bolsonaro fired back with his own tweet: “I regret that Macron seeks to make personal political gains in an internal matter for Brazil and other Amazonian countries. The sensationalist tone he used does nothing to solve the problem.”
A spokesman for the Brazilian President had earlier accused European countries of exaggerating environmental problems in the South American powerhouse in order to disrupt commercial interests.
“There is deforestation in Brazil, yes, but not at the rate and level that they say,” he said.
The allegation came after Germany and Norway, citing Brazil’s apparent lack of commitment to fighting deforestation, decided to withhold more than $60 million in funds earmarked for sustainability projects in Brazilian forests.
The debate came as the country reported a record number of wildfires this year, up 84 per cent over the same
WE CANNOT AFFORD DAMAGE TO A MAJOR SOURCE OF OXYGEN AND BIODIVERSITY. THE AMAZON MUST BE PROTECTED. ANTONIO GUTERRES
period in 2018. Satellite images show smoke from the Amazon reaching across the Latin American continent to the Atlantic coast and Sao Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres tweeted: “In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected.”
Prosecutors in the Amazon have launched investigations into increasing deforestation and will probe possible negligence by the Government in enforcing environmental codes.