WASHINGTON : Today, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with US President Biden at the White House, where they discussed opportunities for the US and Brazil to collaborate on issues related to climate change and protecting the environment.
Following is a statement from Craig Hanson, Managing Director of Programs, World Resources Institute:
“WRI is pleased that Brazil and the United States are again working together on the climate stage. This partnership is crucial in the global effort to address climate change and to protect nature – at a crucial time for the future of the Amazon rainforest and its people. There is no 1.5-degree world if the Amazon passes its deforestation tipping point — and there is very little time to prevent this.
“Lula has been in office for six weeks and has already made strides by appointing pro-environment ministers, reinstating anti-deforestation measures scrapped under President Jair Bolsonaro, revoking mining permits in protected areas, and reopening the Amazon Fund. But the dismantling of environmental policies and governmental structures in recent years also necessitates medium-term actions and investments to halt deforestation, guarantee the rights and territories of Indigenous peoples, and promote a transition to a new, just and inclusive economic model in the Amazon.
Today, the United States and Brazil sent a strong and encouraging signal that they will jointly address climate change and biodiversity loss, which will be crucial for preventing the Amazon from reaching a tipping point of no return.”
Source: wri
