Lula requests that France’s Macron join the Amazon Summit

Thursday, January 16, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva requested his French colleague, Emmanuel Macron, to invite France to the summit of Amazonian nations that he intends to convene in the coming months.

According to a statement released by his office, Lula and Macron addressed measures to battle the threat presented by climate change during a telephone conversation. Lula was re-elected for a third term in October after promising to prevent rainforest destruction.

He discussed the significance of France’s participation in a summit of the countries of the Amazon forest that Brazil hopes to organize in the coming months, as France is the only European nation that shares the biome through its overseas territory of French Guiana.

In addition to Brazil and French Guiana, seven more nations have territory within the biggest rainforest in the world.

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According to a Brazilian statement, Macron has urged Brazil to join the “One Forest Summit” that France and Gabon will convene in early March.

After deforestation in the Amazon reached its greatest levels in 15 years under then-far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who undercut environmental law enforcement and pushed for more mining and farming in the region, Lula won a tight election in 2018 vowing to change Brazil’s climate policy.

Bolsonaro’s relationship with Macron was strained following Macron’s 2019 condemnation of Amazon forest fires. In response, Bolsonaro insulted Macron’s wife and accused him of disrespecting Brazilian sovereignty.

After meeting with Lula on Thursday evening, Macron repeated his resolve to take action “for the climate, biodiversity, our forests, and against hunger.”

“We will overcome these obstacles,” he declared.