close_game
close_game

Norway to resume Brazil aid halted over deforestation after Lula win

AFP |
Oct 31, 2022 05:23 PM IST

Brazil Election: Norway was the biggest donor for the protection of Amazon rain forest, but like Germany, halted its aid to Brazil in 2019 after Bolsonaro took power.

Norway said Monday that it would resume sending Amazon protection subsidies to Brazil, which it had halted in 2019 under Jair Bolsonaro, following Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's election victory.

Brazil Election: Elected president for the leftist Workers Party (PT) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.(AFP)
Brazil Election: Elected president for the leftist Workers Party (PT) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.(AFP)

"We had a good and very close collaboration with the government before Bolsonaro and deforestation in Brazil declined greatly under Lula da Silva's (previous) presidency", Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide told AFP.

"Then we had a head-on collision with Bolsonaro whose approach was diametrically opposed when it came to deforestation".

Norway was the biggest donor for the protection of Amazon rain forest, but like Germany, halted its aid to Brazil in 2019 after Bolsonaro took power.

Under the far-right leader, deforestation of the Amazon accelerated by 70 percent, a level Barth Eide described as "scandalous".

He said some five billion kroner ($483 million) in unused aid was waiting to be disbursed in the Amazon Fund for Forest Conservation and Climate Protection.

Read more: Benjamin Netanyahu comeback? Israel votes for fifth time in 4 years tomorrow

"We note that during the campaign he (Lula) emphasised the conservation of the Amazon forest and the protection of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon," Barth Eide told AFP.

"This is why we are eager to make contact with his teams, as quickly as possible, to prepare for a resumption of the historically good collaboration between Brazil and Norway".

Lula, who served as president between 2003 and 2011, said after his election victory on Sunday that Brazil was "ready to reclaim its place in the fight against the climate crisis, especially the Amazon."

He vowed to "fight for zero deforestation."

Read breaking news, latest...
See more
Read breaking news, latest updates from US, UK, Pakistan and other countries across the world on topics related to US Election Live, politics,crime, along with US Election Results Live and national affairs.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On
// // //