Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva doesn’t want to be lectured about environmental protection by rich industrialized nations. He made this clear at the end of the Amazon Summit in the northern Brazilian port city of Belém.
“Green neo-colonialism, trade barriers and discriminatory measures under the guise of environmental protection cannot be accepted,” Lula said.
Earlier, the summit’s host criticized an additional report requested by Brussels on a planned free trade deal between the EU and South American economic bloc Mercosur.
Lula said such a statement on climate, environment and human rights would interfere in the internal affairs of Mercosur countries and slow down the economic growth of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Lula called on industrialized nations to do their part in climate and environmental protection. “The richest 10 percent of the world’s population own more than 75 percent of the wealth and emit almost half of the CO2 released into the atmosphere. The environmental and ecological benefits of tropical forests must be fairly and equitably rewarded.
The Amazon Rainforest is also known as the “Lungs of the Earth”. Hundreds of billions of trees store about a quarter of all CO2 on Earth. The region therefore has an important function in the international fight against climate change.
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