Concern is growing over the apparent lack of concern shown by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his administration—which critics say is encouraging activities that lead to the destruction of the rainforest.
In Paris, protesters outside the Brazilian embassy were chanting and carrying signs with messages such as “Fora Bolsonaro,” meaning “Bolsonaro Out” in Portuguese, Reuters reported.
Recently released figures from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) showed an 83 percent increase in fire outbreaks in Brazil in comparison to the same period in 2018. This represents the highest number of blazes since the agency began collecting such data in 2013, Reuters reported.
Yesterday, Macron posted a tweet that described the fires as an “international crisis.”
“Our house is burning. Literally,” Macron said in his tweet. “Members of the G7 Summit, let’s discuss this emergency first order in two days!”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed with these sentiments, describing the situation as an “acute emergency” that should be discussed at the summit in France this weekend.
However, Bolsonaro hit back at Macron, scalding his French counterpart for what he described as a “sensationalist tone,” The Guardian reported.
The latest figures come amid international outcry over the inaction of Bolsonaro’s administration.
Last month, Bolsonaro criticized data collected by INPE, which indicated that there had been a significant rise in deforestation rates recently. Notably, the figures showed that in July this year, deforestation had increased nearly 300 percent in comparison to the same month in 2018.
The president accused the agency of making up “lies” that could hurt the country’s trade talks and subsequently fired its chief, replacing him with a military official.
Environmentalists are becoming increasingly concerned with his administration, accusing the government of encouraging deforestation and emboldening those who want to exploit the forest for commercial gain.
“It is fair to say that the scale and scope of these fires are unprecedented in modern history and they represent a planetary emergency of the highest order,” Laurel Sutherlin, a spokesperson from the Rainforest Action Network, told Newsweek. “These fires are occurring in tropical forests that do not naturally burn and they were set intentionally by people, mostly with the intent to clear land for agriculture.”
“The context that set the conditions for these fires is a combination of the rapidly accelerating climate crisis, which is causing bigger and longer droughts and contributing to fires in the Arctic currently as well, and the overtly antagonistic policies of Brazil’s president Bolsonaro, who has lifted environmental regulations and opened the flood gates to greatly increased deforestation, illegal land grabbing and the use of fire to clear land,” Sutherlin said.
