Brasilia, July 12 (RHC)-- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has urged that the Amazon be a negotiating tool with the developed world and criticized the lack of commitments from those countries regarding the largest rainforest on the planet.
During the regular program "Conversation with the President," Lula reiterated his denunciation that the great world powers did not fulfill their environmental commitments regarding the release of resources for developing nations and called for the union of all countries to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
"We want to use the Amazon as an instrument of negotiation with the developed world for investments and to develop the quality of life of the people who live in this region", he argued.
The Brazilian president also announced that his government is preparing a massive infrastructure program, based on the ecological energy transition, with the aim of combating climate change, in conjunction with the other South American countries.
Lula confirmed what was expressed by the Brazilian Minister of Economy, Fernando Haddad, who assured that a hundred actions aimed at technological innovation in the industrial matrix are being prepared, which focus on energy production and the so-called ecological transition.
In addition, the Brazilian progressive leader informed of plans of the Executive to save the Amazon and stressed the importance of the population of the area having dignity in their lives and earning a reasonable salary. In this sense, he asserted that most of them live in precarious conditions.
The president also recalled that deforestation alerts in the Brazilian Amazon had a 33.6 percent reduction during the first half of 2023. "With deforestation the whole economy loses, we are going to play very hard with the federal police and if necessary with the Armed Forces to protect the forest from illegal loggers, illegal mining and organized crime," he said.
Lula renewed his government's commitment to bring illegal logging to zero by 2030 and urged the Amazon countries to assume this goal together at the Belém Summit, to be held next August 8th and 9th.
