Brazil’s president says G7 treats his country ‘like colony’
Jair Bolsonaro lashes out as new evidence emerges of complicity in fires
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro says the proposal to create an international alliance to save the Amazon rainforest would be treating his country like “a colony or no man’s land”.
After French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the G7 had agreed on a $20m fire-fighting fund and a long-term initiative to protect the rainforest, Bolsonaro said the plans were an attack on the country’s sovereignty.
He slammed Macron's “ludicrous and unnecessary attacks on the Amazon,” saying they were unacceptable and accused the Frenchman of treating the region “as if we were a colony”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Leaders at the G7 summit have agreed to provide logistical and financial support to help fight fires in the Amazon rainforest.
Macron said the money would be made available immediately and that France would also “offer concrete support with military in the region within the next few hours”.
But Bolsonaro accused the French leader of launching “unreasonable and gratuitous attacks against the Amazon region”, and “hiding his intentions behind the idea of an ‘alliance’ of G7 countries”, reports the BBC.
The row came as a leaked document provided further evidence Brazilian government was complicit in the fires.
Writing on Twitter, journalist Glenn Greenwald said the document showed “the Bolsonaro Government - specifically its Environment Ministry - was notified in advance about the plans of rural industrialists on WhatsApp to start fires in the Amazon.
“Needless to say,” he adds, “they took no action to stop it”.
Sky News points out that the Amazon contains half of the planet's remaining tropical forests, covers about 40% of South America, and produces 20% of Earth's oxygen.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Elevating Earth Day into a national holiday is not radical — it's practical'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
UAW scores historic win in South at VW plant
Speed Read Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have voted to join the United Auto Workers union
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 22, 2024
Cartoons Monday's cartoons - dystopian laughs, WNBA salaries, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The drying Amazon rainforest: a drought that affects the world
Under the radar The Amazon is suffering a drought of historic severity and it’s pushing its inhabitants to their limit
By The Week UK Published
-
Deforestation and the state of the world’s rainforests
feature Rate of tropical tree loss sped up in 2022, mostly in the Amazon, despite Cop26 commitments
By Harriet Marsden Published
-
Saving the rainforest: the pledge of Brazil’s new president
feature Lula faces “an uphill battle” in his pledge to reverse and eventually end deforestation in the Amazon
By The Week Staff Published
-
The climate crisis in 2023
feature New legislation, activism and business paths could change the picture this year
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Can Brazil become a global leader in fighting climate change?
feature Environmentalists hope election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as Brazilian president will mark ‘turning point’
By The Week Staff Published
-
What happened to Dom Phillips?
In Depth British journalist feared dead after fisherman suspect led police to the remains of two men
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Shell’s North Sea oil U-turn: ‘a first victory in a longer war’?
Speed Read Controversy after oil giant pulls out of proposed Cambo project
By The Week Staff Published
-
Fires, floods and storms: America’s ‘permanent emergency’ has begun
Speed Read This summer of climate horror feels like the ‘first, vertiginous 15 minutes of a disaster movie’, says The New York Times
By The Week Staff Last updated