Sunak pledges Amazon Fund sponsorship from the UK

By Cedê Silva

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday announced that the United Kingdom will join as a sponsor of the Amazon Fund — adding GBP 80 million (USD 101 million) to the initiative, which pays for sustainable development and fights deforestation. Britain’s move follows the White House’s recent decision to pledge USD 500 million to the fund.

“I am delighted to announce that we will be investing in your Amazon Fund, and I pay tribute to your leadership on this issue,” Mr. Sunak told President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a meeting in London. Lula is in the country to attend the coronation of King Charles III tomorrow.

Lula told his British counterpart that “the poorer countries really need aid to keep the forests standing,” and reiterated Brazil’s commitment to end deforestation by 2030. The pledge was signed by more than 140 countries at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in late 2021.

The Brazilian president added that he was “very optimistic” about the bilateral meeting with Mr. Sunak before it was closed to the press.

The Amazon Fund, established in 2009, pays for sustainable development projects in the Brazilian rainforest. It is sponsored primarily by Norway and Germany, and managed by Brazil’s BNDES national development bank, which is responsible for raising and investing funds, monitoring sponsored projects, and ensuring accountability.

To date, the Amazon Fund has raised BRL 3.3 billion (USD 670 million at current exchange rates), mostly from Norway. The fund’s operations were suspended by the Jair Bolsonaro administration in 2019 and reinstated by the Lula government this year.

In February, Environment Minister Marina Silva said that the U.S. joining the Amazon Fund would have a “catalyzing effect” that would attract other countries to become sponsors.

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