UK government complicit in Bolsonaro's assault on Amazon, says cross-party group of 30 MPs

[Judi Lynn]

Exclusive: Letter calls on Bolsonaro to ‘abandon [his] assault on the Amazon, its people, and the future of our planet’

Daisy Dunne
Climate Correspondent
@daisydunnesci
3 hours ago

The UK government is complicit in Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s assault on the Amazon rainforest, a cross-party group of MPs have warned.

In a letter shared with The Independent, UK politicians call on Mr Bolsonaro to urgently “abandon [his] assault on the Amazon, its people, and the future of our planet” amid escalating levels of deforestation and harassment of indigenous groups in Brazil.

“In 2019, invasions of indigenous lands rocketed by 135 per cent and deforestation surged by 85 per cent,” the letter reads.
“This assault on the Amazon means that the forest now emits more carbon than it absorbs, with scientists recently warning that it is reaching an irreversible ‘tipping point’, beyond which it will not generate enough rain to support itself.

“This would be a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, putting all our futures in peril.”

The group, led by Labour MP Zarah Sultana and signed by representatives from the Green Party, the Lib Dems and the SNP, added that the UK government is currently not doing enough to combat Amazon destruction.

“The British government is complicit in this assault on the Amazon,” the letter said.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/uk-mps-jair-bolsonaro-brazil-b1909798.html