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Kerry says U.S. “committed” to Amazon Fund

Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva and U.S. special presidential envoy for the climate, John Kerry. Photo: Andre Borges/EFE via Folhapress

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on Tuesday said his country is “committed” to working with the Amazon Fund, but stopped short of pledging an exact value of donations.

The Amazon Fund pays for sustainable development projects in the Brazilian rainforest. It is sponsored primarily by Norway and Germany, and is managed by Brazil’s National Development Bank (BNDES), which is responsible for raising and investing funds, monitoring the sponsored projects, and providing accountability.

“We have a piece of legislation in the Senate that has USD 4.5 billion as its target. We have one in the House that has USD 9 billion as its target, it’s bipartisan in both places,” Mr. Kerry said in a press conference in Brasília alongside Environment Minister Marina Silva.

“But we know we will have a fight to get things through that particular channel,” he added, in reference to Republican opposition to the measure in the U.S. Congress.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas recently called President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “an unrepentant Chavista,” in a reference to Lula’s longstanding alliance with Latin American left-wing parties and his support for the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela.

Created in 2009, the Amazon Fund has raised so far BRL 3.3 billion (USD 630 million at the current exchange rate), mostly from Norway. The fund’s operation was suspended in 2019 by the Jair Bolsonaro administration and recently reinstated by the Lula government.

“The Amazon is the test of all of our humanity,” Mr. Kerry added. Unless the forest is protected, he said, humankind will not be able to limit the rise in Earth’s temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as defined in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The U.S. government is also looking at employing both multilateral development banks and the carbon market in order to sponsor rainforest protection projects.

Earlier this month, President Lula met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House. The joint statement issued by both heads of state says the U.S. announced “its intent to work with Congress” to provide funding for the Amazon Fund, without committing to a specific amount.

Mr. Kerry had an extensive agenda in Brasília this week. On Monday, he met Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro, and Aloizio Mercadante, the head of BNDES.

Earlier this Tuesday, Mr. Kerry met Brazilian lawmakers in the Senate. Senator Nelsinho Trad of Mato Grosso do Sul, who presided over the meeting, said it led to much “hope” that U.S. investment will contribute to “turning the page” on deforestation. Out of the eight lawmakers who attended the meeting, only two are from the Amazon region.