Canada offers supplementary help for the Amazon at G7 meeting in France

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada offers to send water bombers and $ 15 million to help Brazil and other South American countries fight forest fires in the Amazon.

According to CBC public broadcaster, Trudeau made the announcement during the closing press conference of the G7 meeting in France this weekend.

"We could pretend that the situation in the Amazon is only part of a natural cycle, but that is not exactly what is happening here," he said.

"The cost of human activity and extreme weather events in our communities, our environment, our health and our world will continue to increase unless we take decisive action as part of our broader commitment to combat climate change."

The Canadian promise is separated from another plan that G7 leaders agreed this morning to deal with Amazonian forest fires and contribute to reforestation in the region. That plan includes providing US $ 20 million ($ 26.5 million Canadian dollars) in emergency aid.

The collaboration of Chile

The financing agreed in France by the members of the G7 will be used by the countries to acquire firefighting planes, and the cash will be available "immediately," said French President Emmanuel Macron.

"France will also offer concrete support with the military in the region in the next few hours," Macron said at a press conference with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, who played a key role in the participation of his four South American neighbors.

“They urgently need brigades specialized in fighting fires, specialized airplanes to fight those fires. That is the first stage that will be implemented immediately, ”said Piñera.

According to the Brazilian space agency, a record number of forest fires are burning in the Amazon region of the country. Large forest fires are also burning in neighboring Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay.

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, had minimized in its beginning the extension of the fires. Then the populist leader of the extreme right then wondered if environmental activists had not started the fires to undermine the credibility of his government, which had called for a relaxation of environmental regulation in the world's largest rainforest, with the aim of stimulating the agricultural development

Trudeau and Macron agree on international issues

The relations between the two political leaders are seen as one of ideological allies on various issues ranging from the promotion of gender equality to the protection of the environment.

Justin Trudeau thanked Emmanuel Macron for France's support in advocating the release of two Canadians detained in China.

Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were arrested by Chinese security officials days after Canada arrested the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou with an American arrest warrant in December.

Macron, on his side, thanked Canada for its contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that France will organize in the fall.

The liberal government announced last week that Canada will commit $ 930.4 million to the Global Fund by 2020 to 2022, an increase of about 16% since 2016, according to Global Affairs Canada.

RCI with information from CBC-La presse canadienne

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