The Daily Telegraph - 26.08.2019

Pictures released by

Greenpeace Brazil

show flames and

smoke rising from

the Amazon forest

in Novo Progresso

in Para state, 750

miles north-west of

the capital Brasilia,

at the weekend

Britain pledges

£10m to rescue

Amazon forests

By Charles Hymas

Home AffAirs editor

THE Prime Minister has pledged

£10 million to help protect and restore

the Amazon as Brazil struggles to con-

tain thousands of fires that have devas-

tated vast tracts of the rainforest.

Boris Johnson said the Government

would also increase its overseas fund-

ing for projects to protect forests and

natural habitats, saying biodiversity

and climate change were “two sides of

the same coin. He made the pledges as

the Pope called for global help to fight

the Amazon fires. “That lung of forests

is vital for our planet,” he said.

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president,

sent armed forces yesterday to help

fight the fires after EU leaders threat-

ened to block a trade deal with South

America unless he took more action.

Two Hercules C-130 aircraft dropped

tons of water to try to douse flames as

new fires broke out, while thousands of

Brazilians took to the streets to protest

against deforestation.

There have been more than 74,

fires in Brazil this year and nearly

40,000 fires across the Amazon, the

fastest rate of burning since records be-

gan in 2013, according to Brazil’s Na-

tional Institute for Space Research.

Today, G7 leaders in Biarritz will dis-

cuss climate change and the environ-

ment. Mr Johnson said: “In a week

where we have all watched, horrified,

as the Amazon rainforest burns before

our eyes, we cannot escape the reality

of the damage we are inflicting on the

natural world.”

He added: “We cannot stop climate

change without protecting the natural

environment and we can’t restore

global nature without tackling climate

change.”

Britain has bid with Italy to jointly

host next year’s UN climate change con-

ference. If successful, Mr Johnson said

he would want to focus on natural solu-

tions to climate change, such as refor-

estation, and called for tougher targets

on protecting and restoring natural

habits, conserving wildlife, tackling

pollution and environmental damage,

and countering invasive species.

“The current targets have failed to

stop the catastrophic decline in spe-

cies,” he said.

“We cannot sit back as animals and

plants are wiped off the face of the

planet by mankind’s recklessness.”

He also urged countries to back Brit-

ain’s call to protect a third of the world’s

oceans by 2030 and reverse the damage

inflicted by overfishing, plastic pollu-

tion and climate change.

The UK has pledged to contribute

£1.44 billion to the Green Climate Fund

over the next four years, double its con-

tribution between 2014 and 2018.

However, Aaron Kiely, of Friends of

the Earth, questioned Mr Johnson’s

commitment to the “climate emer-

gency”, calling it “lip service”. He said:

“Nothing short of radical changes are

needed right now.”

Brazilian president sends

in army to fight fires after

EU threatens to block

South American trade deal

First

ladies’ club

The wives

of G

leaders

were given

baskets of

locally

grown

peppers, a

mainstay of

Basque

cuisine,

during a

visit to

Espelette

near

Biarritz.

From left,

Jenny

Morrison,

wife of the

Australian

prime

minister,

Cecilia

Morel, first

lady of

Chile,

Brigitte

Macron,

wife of the

French

president,

Melania

Trump, US

first lady,

and Akie

Abe, wife of

the prime

minister of

Japan.

THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The Daily Telegraph Monday 26 August 2019 *** 7

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