Some of the fire gobbling the Amazon rainforest in Brazil could have been extinguished not just by water but by some world leaders putting first and foremost the survival of the world’s biggest concentration of rainforest.
French President Emmanuel Macron could have apologized for implying Brazil’s leader isn’t concerned about climate change. President Donald Trump could have sent firefighting aid. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro could have doused his ego before he allowed it to flare and not taken so personally the French slight. His refusal to accept $22 million offered by the G-7 countries in firefighting aid was a bad decision, which he reversed the next day, conditioned on Mr. Macron apologizing. Ridiculous.
Two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil and has been burning for weeks.
The 2.6-million square miles of Amazon rainforest, often called “the Earth’s lungs,” store much of the world’s carbon. The rainforest also is home to rare species of plants and animals.
It is estimated that nearly 5,000 square miles of forest have burned in 2019.
Brazil has called upon its military to fight the blazes. But that isn’t sufficient.
World aid offered so far has been a pittance. When Notre Dame Cathedral was destroyed by fire in April, French billionaires quickly pledged to put up $500 million to repair and restore it. Aside from the G-7 offer, Canada has offered $15 million and aerial firefighting equipment. The United States has been unacceptably silent.
Global leaders are concerned about Mr. Bolsonaro’s development of the Brazilian forest and resultant deforestation — and rightly so. But the most immediate issue is the raging fire. Egos and the legitimate concerns by world leaders should be put on pause. (A European Union trade deal with South America has been held up because of Mr. Bolsonaro’s rainforest policies; Norway and Germany have suspended millions of dollars of contributions to Brazil’s Amazon conservation fund because they don’t trust Brazil’s efforts to reduce deforestation.)
For the sake the world, the world must come to Brazil’s aid and Brazil must accept it.
First Published: September 11, 2019, 10:15 a.m.
