Breathing Back Air! Germany Pledges Millions Of Euros To Brazil To Restore Amazon Rainforests

While people go about debating on whether the climate crisis is for real or a scam, the Earth's lungs continue to breathe tough. The Amazon rainforests, one of the world's most biodiverse forests and a buffer against climate change, have been fighting to survive for years. With deforestation having reached record-level highs during former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's rule, the climate crisis was becoming growingly evident. However, now a new ray of hope has emerged in the thousands of acres of land that was cleared, with Germany joining hands with Brazil to revive the forests.

Picking Up From Damages Caused

With the entire world reeling under the impact of climate change, the Amazon rainforests would be among the worst-hit regions. The Amazon, which covers an area twice the size of India, acts as the lungs of the planet with its expanse of trees that absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide. It is among the most biodiverse forests in the world that holds up to 20 per cent of the world's fresh water.

However, in the wrong hands, Amazon found its doom as deforestation reached a 15-year high under Bolsonaro's tenure. He dismantled multiple environmental protection policies in favour of agribusiness expansion. Bolsonaro labelled Amazon as an internal affair and dissolved the steering committee that selects sustainable projects to finance. As an immediate reaction to these changes, Germany and Norway froze their donations toward Amazon forests.

Bringing Back Amazon Funds

With the new government replacing Bolsonaro, hope has been restored, and this was evident with Germany pledging about 200 million euros to Brazil to restore the Amazon under several other environmental policies. German development minister Svenja Schulze was quoted saying, "With the new government and the team of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and environment minister Marina Silva, we have a great chance to protect the forest and to offer a new perspective to the people who live there."

Im Gespräch mit der neuen 🇧🇷 Umwelt- & Klimaschutz Ministerin @MarinaSilva habe ich betont: Deutschland steht als Partner an der Seite Brasiliens. Wir werden sie beim Kampf gegen #Entwaldung & der sozial-gerechten Transformation zur #Klimaneutralität unterstützen. #JustTransition pic.twitter.com/9MLFas6LlG

— Svenja Schulze (@SvenjaSchulze68) January 30, 2023

Out of the pledged $217 million for environmental policies, about $38 million is a donation to the Amazon Fund. Germany further pledged to provide $87 million in low-interest loans for farmers to restore the degraded areas. According to an article by India Today, the fund contribution to Amazon came as a response to the re-activation of the Amazon funds by Marina Silva. She had vowed to halt deforestation in the world's largest tropical rainforest on the day she took office. This resonated with the global leaders who have been working closely to protect the planet's lungs and paved the way for an optimistic reform.

Also Read: Disturbing! Deforestation In Amazon Forests On 15-Year-High