Rio de Janeiro, November 6 (RHC-EFE) –- Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday stressed Brazil’s importance in the global warming battle, hailing its success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slowing the rate of Amazon deforestation.

Speaking at a Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training session in Rio de Janeiro, an event aimed at educating future leaders in the struggle against climate change, Gore also emphasized Latin America’s solar energy potential.

The prominent environmental activist said that within six years 82 percent of the world’s population will live in areas where solar power will be cheaper than any other form of energy.

The ex-vice president hailed the work Brazil has done in lowering the Amazon deforestation rate, which the South American government says has declined sharply since 2004, and reducing its carbon footprint.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff told the UN General Assembly in September that the country has managed to slow the rate of Amazon deforestation by 79 percent over the past decade and is keeping its promise to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by between 36 percent and 39 percent by 2020.

Even so, Gore spoke about the direct impact that Amazon deforestation has had on the severe water shortages currently afflicting Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most heavily populated and wealthiest state.

Deforestation of one of the planet’s major green lungs interrupts the movement of cloud masses that bring precipitation to Sao Paulo state, the former vice president said.