Collectively protecting the Amazon
CGTN
Last weekend, media attention was drawn to two spots: One was the G7 summit in Biarritz, where the leaders of the seven most developed countries met. Among the items on the agenda was an event taking place half a world away, where wildfires were raging across Brazil’s Amazon forest.
Macron spoke for many when he protested at the scale of the devastation. Last week around 2,500 were active, with 75,000 such fires having occurred during the first eight months of this year – making it the largest number since 2013. Their intensity was enough to darken the skies over the metropolis of Sao Paulo, over 2,000 kilometers south.
While the dry season may account for some of these fires, the increase in their number is attributable to economic and political reasons. Farmers and loggers start fires to clear the land, but that activity has intensified because of the current government’s policies.
They felt able to do so after Brazil elected a far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, at the end of last year. During his election campaign President Bolsonaro promised to support business and weaken the country’s environmental regulations and protections.
In short, the current situation is not accidental.
