Brazil demands cash to preserve Amazon

President Jair Bol­sonaro’s government will renew calls for other countries to pay Brazil to preserve the Amazon at the UN climate summit.

Brazilian Vice-President Hamilton Mourao, left, and President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia. Picture: AFP

President Jair Bol­sonaro’s government will pursue a confrontational negotiating strategy at the UN climate summit, renewing calls for other countries to pay Brazil to preserve the Amazon.

Vice-President Hamilton Mourao, an army general who is Mr Bolsonaro’s point man on the Amazon, said Brazil would use the “weapons of diplomacy” to protect what the administration sees as its national interest at the COP26 conference in Glasgow.

“The Amazon represents around 50 per cent of Brazil’s territory. If we have to maintain 80 per cent of that intact, not only because of our own legislation but also to co-operate with the rest of the world to prevent drastic climate change … we’re talking about preserving 10 Germanys,” he said. “There has to be a negotiation on the country being compensated for doing that job for the rest of humanity’s benefit.”

Mr Bolsonaro has faced international criticism since taking ­office in 2019 for a surge in deforestation and fires in the Amazon.

Mr Mourao said Brazil would at Glasgow announce a pledge to shave two to three years off its previous commitment to end ­illegal deforestation by 2030.

AFP