The UK is considering joining a billion-dollar Amazon fund reopened by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to finance rainforest sustainability, British Environment, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Therese Coffey said.
“We are looking seriously,” Coffey told Reuters on Monday (2nd) in Brasilia, where he attended Lula’s inauguration on Sunday (1st), his first visit to Brazil.
He said the British government was in talks with the fund’s existing partners, Norway and Germany, which had donated US$1.2 billion to build the initiative.
The funding was frozen by Jair Bolsonaro’s government. Alleged irregularities Between projects managed by non-governmental organizations, without any evidence.
One of Lula’s first decisions in office was to roll back Bolsonaro policies that weakened environmental protections and helped drive deforestation to a 15-year high, including a move to encourage mining on protected indigenous lands.
Therese said the UK has a lot to offer Brazil, including rural sustainability projects and low-carbon architecture, to help raise funds from its strength as a global center for green finance.
The UK is Brazil’s third largest contributor to the environment, having provided more than £250m from its international pilot fund, he said.
The British minister met Environment Minister Marina Silva, Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro and Indigenous Peoples Minister Sonia Guajara.
Receiving Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svridenko, Minister Favaro said, “On my first day in the job, it is very important that the United Kingdom shares the same goals,” according to a ministry statement. .
Indigenous communities have been particularly hard hit by illegal mining, which has increased with deforestation in the Amazon under Bolsonaro.
“I see the will and the intention to change that,” the British minister said.
Therese added that the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho, had invited her to visit the state to see projects in the rainforest.
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