The Amazon rainforest, the lungs of this earth, has been on fire for more than three weeks now. The lack of media coverage is one of the reasons why the news did not spread like fire across the globe, unlike the Notre Dame fire in April.
Even though very late, help did come. Influencers and superstars started sharing the news of the Amazon fires, and the Hollywood actor Leonardo di Caprio also asked for the people’s help to save what is left of the Amazon.
Even though it has been a slow process till now, the French president Emmanuel Macron hosted a weekend summit in the French City of Biarritz attended by the leaders of the G7 countries. Shockingly, Brazil has refused to take the G7 aid of $20m.
We appreciate [the offer], but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe – Onyx Lorenzoni, the chief of staff to President Jair Bolsonaro
He further added, “Brazil is a democratic, free nation that never had colonialist and imperialist practices, as perhaps is the objective of the Frenchman Macron.”
The aid was meant to pay for more firefighting planes to stop the fire in Amazonian nations such as Brazil and Bolivia. More than 41,000 fires have started in the Amazon region so far this year.
Bolsonaro’s reaction to Macron’s tweet about saving the forest has been a source of tension between the two countries as Bolsorano accused Macron of having a “colonialist mentality.”
The Amazon forest is a subject for the whole planet. We can help you reforest. We can find the means for your economic development that respects the natural balance. But we cannot allow you to destroy everything – Macron reiterated
Macron acknowledged the fact that his country too has been complicit in the agricultural pressure put on the forest. Earlier Macron and Bolsorano got in a row following a rude comment made on Macron’s wife.
However, the aid has been seen simply as a “chump change” in the eyes of Richard George, the head of forests for Greenpeace UK.
