Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Without Brazil, Donors Unlock $500M to Preserve Rainforests

Reuters

   UNITED NATIONS - International donors agreed on Monday to free up more
   than $500 million in aid to protect tropical rainforests, including the
   Amazon where wildfires are raging, France's president said on Monday at
   a U.N. meeting shunned by Brazil.

   The Brazilian Amazon is facing its worst spate of forest fires since
   2010, prompting a global outcry and worries that destruction of parts
   of the world's largest rainforest could hurt demand for Brazil's
   exports.

   Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in August offered $20
   million of emergency aid to help fight Amazon fires, a gesture Brazil
   at the time criticized as colonialist.

   French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a wider alliance to
   protect rainforests worldwide using the United Nations General Assembly
   as a platform to garner support.

   France, Chile and Colombia met on the sidelines of the annual gathering
   of world leaders on Monday, despite the absence of Brazilian President
   Jair Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic who is promoting development
   in the Amazon region.

.