Brazil does not need German funds to sustain Amazon forests, claims Bolsonaro

Tuesday, August 13th 2019 - 07:16 UTC

Full article 5 comments

“The country doesn't need this,” Bolsonaro closely linked to the agribusiness, said about a possible loss of German funding in Brazil's vast Amazon rainforest.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed the importance of Germany's funding of sustainability projects in the country's forests, as the European nation weighed withdrawing from the region.

“The country doesn't need this,” the conservative president known for his ties to agribusiness told reporters about a possible loss of German funding in Brazil's vast Amazon rainforest.

Citing Environment Minister Svenja Schulz, German daily Tagesspiegel reported on Saturday the government planned to stop sending money to a country that is not fully committed to curbing deforestation in the Amazon. According to Tagesspiegel, the ministry is planning to initially freeze some 35 million Euros (US$ 39.6 million).

Among the projects that could suffer is the Amazon Fund, created in 2008 to receive donations to help prevent, monitor and combat deforestation in the Amazon. Germany is one of the fund's three main contributors, along with Norway — the fund's top contributor — and Brazilian state oil giant Petrobras.

The Bolsonaro administration has questioned the efficiency of the Amazon Fund and pushed for an internal overhaul, threatening to lose funding from Norway and Germany.

Bolsonaro and his environment minister have also questioned official numbers on deforestation rates in the Amazon published by the National Institute for Space Research, leading to the departure of the institute's president.

Categories: Economy, Environment, Politics, Brazil, International.

Tags: Amazon forests, Amazonas desforestation, Brazil, Germany funds to Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, Svenja Schulz.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules

Brasileiro
I want to warn navigating friends that no military aggression will be allowed against the Brazilian territory. If this happens, we Brazilians will not measure war efforts, seek alliances and buy all sorts of weapons from Russia to defend ourselves. And remember: the Falkland Islands are very close to us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfj9AjQ8YcI
Aug 13th, 2019 - 12:54 pm 0
:o))
@Brasileiro

The easiest solution will be to privatize Amazon Forest/State!
Aug 14th, 2019 - 12:20 am 0
Brasileiro
@ Caveira

I do not agree. The easiest solution is to burn the entire forest as soon as possible. After all, the Russian tactic against Napoleon's troops worked.
Aug 14th, 2019 - 06:33 am 0

Read all comments

Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!