Johnson warns against using trade deals to highlight Amazon concerns
Boris Johnson said he is “horrified” by the devastation in the Amazon, but warned against using the destruction of the rainforest to block trade deals.
French President Emmanuel Macron has indicated he could block an EU trade deal with Brazil and its neighbours over Jair Bolsonaro’s country’s handling of fires in the rainforest.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar has also said he would not back the EU-Mercosur agreement if Brazil did not honour its environmental commitments.
The fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest are not only heartbreaking, they are an international crisis. We stand ready to provide whatever help we can to bring them under control and help protect one of Earth’s greatest wonders.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 23, 2019
But Mr Johnson cautioned against the approach at a “very difficult time for global free trade”.
Mr Macron has put the situation in the Amazon on the agenda at the G7 summit he is hosting in Biarritz.
Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest – the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen – is on fire. It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let's discuss this emergency first order in two days! #ActForTheAmazonpic.twitter.com/dogOJj9big
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 22, 2019
Mr Johnson said he is “horrified by what is happening in the Amazon basin” and the UK “stands ready to help in any way that we can to extinguish the fires and to protect habitat and biodiversity”.
But he added: “I think I’d be reluctant to do anything, at this very difficult time for global free trade, to cancel another trade deal.”