French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday urged the country's allies to promptly adopt the Charter of the Alliance for Rainforests in an effort to protect tropical forests globally from fires similar to those that broke out in 2019 in the Amazon region
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2020) French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday urged the country's allies to promptly adopt the Charter of the Alliance for Rainforests in an effort to protect tropical forests globally from fires similar to those that broke out in 2019 in the Amazon region.
The France-sponsored document, which sets up an open coalition of countries aimed at the protection, sustainable management and restoration of rainforest ecosystems, was first floated by the French president at the Biarritz G7 Summit amid major fires in the world's several regions in 2019. The charter is now open for signature by G7 members, countries in the Amazon Basin, Congo Basin and South-East Asia, and European donors.
"Our house is still on fire. Since the call of the G7 in Biarritz to save the Amazon, we have been mobilized to protect our planet. I welcome the adoption of the Charter of the Alliance for Rainforests. Let's speed it up!" Macron wrote on Twitter.
Last year's G7 Summit in the French city of Biarritz zeroed in on the Amazon protection, an urgent topic back then amid devastating rainforest wildfires in the region. The ecosystem is the world's largest terrestrial carbon dioxide sink, which is believed to largely contribute to mitigating global warming.
In particular, at the gathering, the leaders of the G7 nations agreed to allocate emergency support of $22 million for the Amazonian states affected by 2019 wildfires. However, due to Macron's criticism over his environmental policy, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rejected the G7 aid offer and sent in the army to deal with the fires, as well as deforestation.
