BRASILIA (Reuters) – Britain will join the multi-billion dollar Amazon fund reinstated by President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva to fund the sustainability of the rainforest. Britain’s Environment Minister Therese Coffey said it was under consideration.
“It’s something we’re seriously considering,” Coffey told Reuters in Brasilia on Monday, attending Lula’s inauguration on Sunday.
She said the UK government is already in talks with the fund’s current partners, Norway and Germany, about their contribution of $1.2 billion to set up the initiative.
The fund was frozen by the former far-right Jair Bolsonaro, without providing evidence, on the grounds of fraud in NGO-controlled projects.
One of Lula’s first decisions was Bolsonaro, which contributed to the highest surge in deforestation in 15 years, including measures to undermine environmental protections and encourage mining on protected indigenous lands. was to withdraw the policy of
Lula also relaunched Amazon Fund.
Mr Coffey said the UK has a lot to offer Brazil, from rural sustainability and low-carbon building programs to programs that help mobilize capital by leveraging its strength as a global hub for green finance. rice field.
The UK is already Brazil’s third largest contributor on the environment, contributing more than £250m from its international pilot fund, she said.
Coffey met with Environment Minister Marina Silva, Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro and Indigenous Peoples Minister Sonia Guajajara.
Indigenous communities have been particularly hard hit by illegal mining, which paralleled deforestation in the Amazon under the Bolsonaro regime.
“I can see the desire and intent to turn it around,” she said.
Kofi added that Gov. Herder Babar Hopala invited her to his vast Amazon state to see projects in the rainforest.
“I expect it to be life-changing,” she said.
Reporting by Anthony Bodle.Edited by Alex Richardson
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