(Brasilia) The American special envoy for the climate, John Kerry, affirmed Tuesday in Brasilia that the fight against the destruction of the Amazon must be carried out “at the global level”, reiterating that Washington would contribute financially, without however announcing of amount.
“We will work together, not only on a bilateral basis, but on a global level, to bring everyone to the negotiating table,” Mr. Kerry explained during a press conference alongside the Brazilian Minister of Health. ‘Environment, Marina Silva.
“No country can change things alone […]. There’s a big change going on, more and more people understand that it’s urgent, it’s not optional, and we have to work together, much more than we did before,” he said. he insisted, also announcing that he intended to return to Brazil to go to the Amazon, without giving a precise date.
This visit by US President Joe Biden’s envoy to Brasilia takes place three weeks after that of left-wing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to the White House.
And as was the case in Washington, the United States reaffirmed its willingness to contribute to the Amazon Fund, whose main donors are Norway and Germany, but has still not provided any figures.
“We are committed to contributing to the Amazon Fund, but also to other entities, and to working bilaterally (with Brazil) on science and development”, explained Mr. Kerry, at the end of his visit. two days in Brasilia.
When asked by a reporter how much the contribution would be, he replied that it would depend on negotiations with Congress.
“We have a bill in the Senate with a goal of raising $4.5 billion. Another in the House at $9 billion. But now we will have to fight” for this to materialize in Congress, he said.
He alluded in particular to the “AMAZON21” bill, providing for the creation of a fund of 9 billion dollars for the preservation of forests in developing countries.
Minister Marina Silva recalled for her part that there were “other instruments” to help preserve the Amazon, such as the purchase of carbon credits.
At the end of January, during an official visit to Brasilia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz announced that his country was ready to pay 200 million euros ($289 million CAN) to the Amazon Fund.
Deforestation rose sharply under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), defeated by Lula in the October election.
The leftist president promised after his victory that he would do everything to reduce illegal deforestation in the Amazon to zero by 2030, but insisted on the importance of international aid to achieve this goal.