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The French and German leaders say the record number of fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is an international crisis which must be discussed at this weekend’s G7 summit.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the “acute emergency” belonged on the agenda, agreeing with French President Emmanuel Macron’s earlier rallying cry.
“Our house is burning,” he tweeted.
Environmental groups say the fires are linked to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s policies, which he denies.
Mr Bolsonaro has also accused Mr Macron of meddling for “political gain”. He said calls to discuss the fires at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, which Brazil is not participating in, evoke “a misplaced colonialist mindset”.
The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming.
It is also home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people.
Satellite data published by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) has shown an increase of 85% this year in fires across Brazil, most of them in the Amazon region.
Conservationists say Mr Bolsonaro has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land.
Mr Bolsonaro has suggested that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) started the fires, but admitted he had no evidence for this claim. In comments on Thursday, he acknowledged that farmers might be involved in setting fires in the region, according to Reuters news agency.
Environmental groups have called for protests in cities across Brazil on Friday to demand action to combat the fires.
What have the leaders said?
Mr Macron, who will host the G7 summit of leading industrial nations at the weekend, warned that the health of the Amazon was a matter of international concern.
“Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon – the lungs which produce 20% of our planet’s oxygen – is on fire,” Mr Macron tweeted, using the hashtag #ActForTheAmazon.
“It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 summit, let’s discuss this emergency.” Media captionOne campaigner called the forest fires a “vicious cycle”
Mrs Merkel described the fires as “shocking and threatening” and said she was convinced the issue should be on the G7’s agenda, her spokesman said.
Mr Bolsonaro responded by accusing the French president of using a Brazilian domestic issue for “personal political gain”. Image copyright NASA Image caption Smoke from fires burning in the Amazon can be seen from space
“The French president’s suggestion that Amazonian issues be discussed at the G7 without the participation of the countries of the region evokes a misplaced colonialist mindset, which does not belong in the 21st Century,” he wrote on social media.
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also said he is “deeply concerned” about the fires in the Amazon.
“In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected,” he tweeted.
A new level of dismissal
Analysis by Daniel Gallas, BBC News, Sao Paulo
Brazilian presidents shrugging off international concern about the Amazon is nothing new.
Others before Mr Bolsonaro have dismissed international NGOs and European leaders as foreign meddlers into national affairs.
But Mr Bolsonaro has taken this to a new level by suggesting NGOs may be responsible for encouraging wildfires to sabotage him.
His words may shock some international audiences, but they ring true to his supporters at home, where he remains a popular leader.
Surprisingly the one reproving voice that could influence this debate is that of Brazilian farmers.
One would think that they would support policies to promote more farming in the Amazon. But some agricultural leaders fear Mr Bolsonaro’s poor handling of Brazil’s image abroad could hurt exports of soybeans and beef.
Some farmers have already urged a change of tone from the government. These are voices the president may be open to hearing.
How has Bolsonaro reacted to the fires?
Mr Bolsonaro has said that the country is not equipped to fight the fires. “The Amazon is bigger than Europe, how will you fight criminal fires in such an area?” he asked reporters as he left the presidential residence on Thursday. “We do not have the resources for that.”
The Amazon rainforest covers an estimated 5.5m sq km (2,100,000 sq mi), about half the size of Europe.
During his campaign, Mr Bolsonaro pledged to limit fines for damaging the rainforest and to weaken the influence of the environmental agency.
He also suggested that Brazil could pull out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, saying its requirements compromise Brazil’s sovereignty over the Amazon region.
BBC