BRAZIL – French President Emmanuel Macron said the record number of fires in the Amazon rainforest is an “international crisis” that needs to top the agenda at this weekend’s G7 summit.
Satellite data published by the National Institute for Space Research showed an increase of 85-percent this year in fires across Brazil, most of them in the Amazon region.
The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming.
Conservationists blamed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s government for Amazon’s plight, saying that he has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land.
Environmental groups called for protests in cities across Brazil on Friday to demand action to combat the fires.(BBC)
