MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

German Chancellor meets Lula da Silva, pledges €200 million for Amazon forest

The package includes a new €31 million fund for Brazilian states for rainforest protection, including €93 million towards reforesting projects.

Germany has pledged €200 million to help Brazil defend the Amazon forest. German Chanellor Olaf Scholz made the announcement during a visit to Brasilia where he met with president Lula da Silva and congratulated him for the return of Brazil to the world stage.

The package includes a new €31 million fund for Brazilian states for rainforest protection. The German Development Ministry said €93 million would go towards reforesting projects.

Another €35 million had been halted by Germany and Norway under former President Jair Bolsonaro and was reactivated.

Funds in the package are also earmarked for renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives and reforestation programs. While speaking in Brasilia, Scholz said that Brazil had an important role in “driving the global green transition.”

Shortly before Scholz's arrival, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze announced that Berlin would make additional Amazon preservation funds available after “difficult years.”

“Brazil is the lung of the world. If it has problems, we all have to help it,” Schulze said in Brasilia.

Brazil saw an increase in fires and clear-cutting of the Amazon under Bolsonaro's government, with deforestation rising by 59.5% during his four years in office compared to the four before.

In other issues German Scholz chancellor said that Berlin wanted quick progress on the free trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur. However there were some differences between the two leaders referred to the Russian war in Ukraine

“Brazil is a country of peace and therefore does not want any involvement in this war, not even indirect,” he said. He urged Russia and Ukraine to negotiate, saying “until now the word peace is used very little.”