US joins the Amazon Fund without defining the value of the contribution, says Alckmin

Vice President Geraldo Alckmin confirmed, earlier this Monday afternoon (27), that the United States joined the Amazon Fund proposed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to Joe Biden earlier this month. Confirmation was given shortly after a meeting with the US government’s special envoy to Brazil, John Kerry.

Alckmin said that there is no definition of how much the United States will donate to the fund, but that Kerry “will work with the government, the US Congress and the private sector to have substantial resources not only in the Amazon Fund, but other cooperations as well.

According to the vice president, Kerry did not ask the Brazilian government for any specific contribution. “Brazil’s commitment was already clear in the presence of President Lula at the meeting with Biden, to be the great protagonist in the fight against climate change. It is a serious issue and this is the moment, we cannot let this moment pass to hold back the increase in the climate issue, ”he said.

He also pointed out that the fund “has already been activated”, with all the resources managed by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), audited, and that the government itself needs to register projects to have access to funds.

According to Geraldo Alckmin, humanitarian projects will be developed to assist indigenous communities, Yanomami, malnutrition, combat deforestation and criminal organizations, and public income policies for the inhabitants of the Amazon region – “which has 28 million people”, he added.

Alckmin also recalled the natural disasters experienced recently in the United States, such as the tornadoes last night, and in Brazil, such as the rains on the coast of São Paulo that killed 65 people and the drought in the south of the country, caused by climate change.

Alckmin’s meeting with John Kerry was also attended by Minister Marina Silva, of the Environment and Climate Change; Aloizio Mercadante, president of BNDES; Maria Laura da Rocha, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; and the US ambassador to Brazil, Elizabeth Frawley Bagley.

Record deforestation in February

John Kerry’s visit to Brazil takes place three days after the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) points out that deforestation in the Amazon broke a record in February, considering the measurements that have been taken since the beginning of the historical series, in 2016. 17 days, 208.7 km² of forests were cut down.

Geraldo Alckmin said that “it is necessary to better evaluate these numbers”, since “there was a big drop” in January.

According to Inpe, more than half of the devastated area is located in Mato Grosso (129 km²). Deforestations were also recorded in Pará (34 km²), Amazonas (23 km²), Rondônia (13.16 km²), Roraima (4.95 km²) and Maranhão (3.58 km²).

Biden can come to Brazil

This Monday’s meetings (27), which include Kerry’s dinner with Marina Silva at the American embassy in the evening, are also the first steps towards a possible visit by Joe Biden to Brazil, according to Bagley. “It will pave the way for a future visit by President Biden to Brazil, an invitation he accepted from President Lula,” he said.

John Kerry will stay in Brazil until Tuesday (28th), and then travel to Panama, between the 1st and 3rd of March, and to the US city of Houston, between the 6th and 7th.