The European Union has thrown its support behind a comprehensive plan to safeguard the Amazon rainforest. This initiative entails the coordination of financial contributions from EU member states, with the aim of ensuring that these funds are allocated according to their intended purpose, as part of the EU’s Global Gateway investment scheme.
Team Europe, which encompasses EU member states and institutions including the European Investment Bank, will oversee the coordination of €260 million ($277 million) already committed by Spain, Italy, Sweden, France, Germany, and the Netherlands to combat deforestation in the Amazon. Additionally, the EU will contribute an undisclosed sum to protect the rainforest from logging through its Global Gateway investment program focused on Latin America, where Amazon conservation is a flagship project.
The Global Gateway initiative, introduced in July, commits the EU to invest €45 billion in Latin America by 2027. Discussions regarding the scheme’s specifics are set to take place among EU and Latin American finance ministers in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
This move aims to ensure that the allocated funds are utilized as intended, addressing previous criticisms of the Commission’s large investments in developing regions without adequate mechanisms for monitoring disbursements. The Commission will now lead the coordination of funding, consolidating individual country donations within a donor platform established by the Inter-American Development Bank. The Amazon rainforest, where over half of global old-growth tropical rainforest destruction has occurred since 2002, plays a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide and influencing Earth’s climate, making its protection vital in the fight against climate change.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/eu-steps-boost-amazon-rainforest-protection-plan-2023-09-15/a