Brazil leader tells Biden he'll end deforestation by 2030, asks for help

BRASILIA • President Jair Bolsonaro wrote a letter to his United States counterpart Joe Biden pledging to end illegal deforestation in Brazil by 2030 and seeking "considerable" financial assistance to get there, officials have said.

The letter comes a week before Mr Biden hosts a virtual climate summit with 40 world leaders, including Mr Bolsonaro - a far-right climate-change sceptic with whom he had clashed on the issue of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

"In an unequivocal measure of support for your efforts, we wish to reaffirm our commitment to eliminate illegal deforestation in Brazil by 2030," said the seven-page letter, dated Wednesday.

"However, achieving this goal will require considerable resources," including from "the international community, governments and the private sector", it said. "Brazil deserves to be fairly compensated for the environmental services its citizens provide for the planet."

The Bolsonaro and Biden administrations have reportedly been holding talks on a plan in which Brazil would get international funding to better protect the Amazon, a crucial resource against climate change.

That prompted the Climate Observatory, a coalition of 198 Brazilian environmental groups, to warn this month against closed-door deals with Mr Bolsonaro, whom it called the "worst enemy" of the world's biggest rainforest.

Wednesday's letter marks a change in tone for Mr Bolsonaro, who clashed with Mr Biden on deforestation during the latter's presidential campaign.

During Mr Biden's first debate with former president Donald Trump last September, the Democratic candidate outlined a plan to offer Brazil US$20 billion (S$26.7 billion) in international funding to "stop tearing down the forest".

"And if you don't, then you're going to have significant economic consequences," he said.

Mr Bolsonaro fired back, saying Brazil would not accept "coward threats", calling Mr Biden's remarks "disastrous and unnecessary".

A senior White House official said that it "welcomed" Mr Bolsonaro's commitment on deforestation and that Brazil "has a responsibility to lead" on climate issues.

Brazil pledged to end illegal deforestation by 2030 in the Paris climate agreement in 2015, but Mr Bolsonaro's election win three years later cast doubt on the plan.

The far-right leader has slashed funding for environmental protection and pushed to open protected lands to mining and agribusiness.

In the 12 months to August last year, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased 9.5 per cent, destroying an area bigger than Jamaica, according to government data.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE