The government of Brazil has on Tuesday said it will dismiss an offer of financial aid worth USD 22 million to fight Amazon Fires jointly from Group of Seven (G7) nations’ prominent leaders.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron – who is hosting the G7 summit in a French city of Biarritz that began from Sunday, has said G7 leaders have decided to provide $22 million (£18m) to the Brazilian government to tackle wildfires in the Amazon Rainforests.
Although, Brazilian officials have provided no exact reason for their refusal to the G7 aid but, President Jair Bolsonaro has blamed France for treating his nation as a colony, according to BBC news reports.
The Brazilian defence ministry also said the fires in the world’s largest rainforests, Amazon, weren’t out of control.
Defence minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva stated some 44,000 personnel have been deployed in the region to fight the wildfires, as well as, environmental crimes in Amazon forest.
Offering comments on G7 aid offer, Onyx Lorenzoni, Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, told the Globo news website: “Thanks, but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe.”
“Macron cannot even avoid a predictable fire in a church that is part of the world’s heritage, and he wants to give us lessons for our country?” Lorenzoni added, referring to the April Notre-Dame cathedral fire in Paris.
He further said his nation could acknowledge “any nation” how to safeguard nearby or native forests.
Prominent world leaders at the G7 summit in the French city of Biarritz have on Monday vowed to allocate USD 22 million in total to fight the Amazon fires in Brazil, a threat to the world’s largest rainforest.
However, the Brazilian president accused Macron of declaring “unreasonable and gratuitous attacks against the Amazon region”, and “hiding his intentions behind the idea of an ‘alliance’ of G7 countries”.
Despite refusal by Bolsonaro, the country’s environment minister Ricardo Salles told reporters initially the fundings were welcome.
Also read: G7 summit nations pledge USD 22 million to fight Amazon Fires