U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking $500 million to bolster Brazil’s strategy to protect the Amazon, a gesture to his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva amid recent tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and relations with China.
Biden will request the U.S. Congress deliver the money over five years to Brazil’s Amazon Fund, an international conservation initiative set up with Germany and Norway, as part of the South American nation’s efforts to end deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest by 2030, according to a White House statement Thursday.
“The answer to the climate challenge, maybe the biggest in our generation, depends on the coordinated action of all the countries,” Lula said in a short video presentation from Brasilia after the White House’s announcement. “Brazil is doing its part.”
The pledge comes amid recent tensions between the U.S. and Brazil, with Lula claiming that the U.S., the European Union and Ukraine shared responsibility for the war. A Biden administration spokesman accused Brazil of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda” in response.
But unlike the war, environmental policy and the need to protect the Amazon are points of strong agreement between the leaders. The Amazon Fund resumed full functioning with the inauguration of Lula in January after it was suspended under the previous administration of Jair Bolsonaro.
The U.S. has not previously contributed directly to the Amazon Fund, which invested more than 1 billion reais ($198 million) into projects to protect the forest and promote sustainable development between 2009 and 2018. It had more than 3 billion reais ready to allocate to new projects when it was restarted in this year, according to the Brazilian government.
U.S. commitment to the Amazon Fund is “a huge achievement,” Environment Minister Marina Silva said at a Thursday afternoon press conference in Brasilia.
The Biden administration initially indicated that it would support the initiative during Lula’s visit to Washington in February. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry traveled to Brazil later that month.
Silva, the environment minister, spoke with Kerry on Thursday to thank him for “the effort being made by the Biden administration to get this done,” she said. Total contributions from the U.S. could reach $2 billion once funding from private entities is included, she said.
“The Brazilian government has been in talks with the U.S. government about the Amazon Fund, and is grateful for the trust and the American contribution to the fund,” Brazil’s Presidency said in a statement to Bloomberg News. The fund “has been an important instrument for preservation and sustainable development in the region.”
Brazilian environmental groups also hailed Biden’s announcement as a financial and political boost for efforts to curb deforestation.
“It is an extremely important act, first because we need money in the Amazon,” said Marcio Astrini, the executive secretary of the Sao Paulo-based Observatorio do Clima, a network of environmental organizations. “Second, because of the political signal. Having a power like the U.S. betting on the Amazon fund is a seal of trust and an invitation for other countries to participate too.”
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(With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.)
