Amazon Rainforest Must Be Protected to Reach Global Climate, US Says

VIVA – The Amazon rainforest must be protected to fulfill global climate targets and prevent the Earth's temperature from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, US Special Envoy for Climate Change, John Kerry said while discussing possible US funding for forest conservation.

Brazil’s new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva assumed office in January jump-starting cooperation with the United States on climate change and deforestation after rocky relations under his right-wing predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil's deforestation reached its worst level in 15 years during the Bolsonaro administration's rollback of environmental protection policies. Lula and US President Joe Biden agreed to work together to counteract the effects of climate change in a meeting at the White House earlier this month.

The United States has also said it wants to contribute to the Brazilian Amazon Fund which supports rainforest conservation projects.

The truth is that unless the Amazon is protected from those who would deforest it and who abuse it, we cannot keep the temperature to 1.5 degrees (Celsius)," Kerry said, referring to the climate target in the Paris Agreement.

According to him, the United States Senate is considering a $4.5 billion (IDR 6,8 trillion) funding bill for forest conservation, while the US House of Representatives is discussing a $9 billion bill.

However, the U.S. government will have to fight first before it can ensure the proposal is approved by the US Congress, Kerry added.

Kerry and Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva said the US and Brazil have reactivated a joint working group established in 2015 to discuss environmental and climate cooperation that stalled during the Bolsonaro administration.

Silva said she had spoken with Kerry about the possibility of increasing exports of sustainable resource products made in Brazil to the United States.