‘Reforest Europe’: Brazil Rejects G7’s Aid to Fight Amazon Fire

The G-7 pledged tens of millions of dollars to help fight raging wildfires in the Amazon and protect its rainforest.

(Photo: AP)

Brazil on Monday, 26 August, rejected aid from G7 countries to fight wildfires in the Amazon, with a top official telling French President Emmanuel Macron to take care of "his home and his colonies."

"We appreciate (the offer), but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe," Onyx Lorenzoni, chief of staff to President Jair Bolsonaro, told the G1 news website, referring to a pledge of USD 20 million made at the G7 summit in France to fight the rainforest blaze.

The G-7 pledged tens of millions of dollars to help fight raging wildfires in the Amazon and protect its rainforest, even as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro accused rich countries of treating the region like a "colony."

The international pledges at a G-7 summit in France included $20 million from the group, as well as a separate $12 million from Britain and $11 million from Canada. Ottawa has also offered to send firefighting planes to Brazil.

Other groups are contributing support for a region whose rainforests are a major absorber of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Earth Alliance, a new environmental foundation backed by Leonardo DiCaprio, is pledging $5 million in aid, saying the Amazon is one of the "best defenses" against climate change.

The funds are widely seen as critical support, but a relatively small amount for dealing with an environmental crisis of such scale threatening what French President Emmanuel Macron called “the lungs of the planet.”

Pledge Despite Tensions

More than $1 billion, for example, has been paid into a fund to help the Amazon in the past decade. And major donors Germany and Norway recently cut donations to Brazilian forestry projects, saying Bolsonaro's administration isn't committed to curbing deforestation.

The international pledges came despite tensions between European countries and the Brazilian president, who suggested the West was angling to exploit Brazil's natural resources.

"Look, does anyone help anyone ... without something in return? What have they wanted there for so long?" Bolsonaro said.

(With inputs from AFP, Associated Press)