Demonstration against Brazil after Amazon fires

Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB scanpix

Environmental activists gathered on Friday outside the Brazil Embassy residence to show resistance to the deforestation of the Amazon, which is now threatening more forest fires.

Many of the protesters were clearly angry with Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. The president has been criticized internationally for not doing enough to protect the rainforest.

One of the participants was the Oslo City Council for Environment and Transport, Lan Marie Berg (MDG).

The fires in the Amazon have created rage all over the world. It also upsets me. If we let the rainforest die, we have little hope of stopping catastrophic climate change. That is why it is important for me to be here today in front of the residence of the Brazilian embassy and say clearly what I mean, she says in a statement sent to NTB.

It is the group Extinction Rebellion that is behind the demonstration. They write in a press release that they want to highlight opposition to deforestation in the Amazon, the poisoning of Brazilian agriculture, and “President Bolsonaro’s denial of the man-made climate collapse.”

“President Bolsonaro has opened for extreme forest clearing in the world’s lungs, which accounts for 20 % of the planet’s oxygen production,” said Armelle Armoulinex, one of the organisers.

We have to protest against this. What happens in the Amazon concerns us all.

Official figures show that almost 73,000 fires have been registered in Brazil since the turn of the year, which is a sharp increase since last year, and the highest number recorded in Brazil since records began in 2013. The fires cause great concern as they are linked to deforestation of the world’s largest rainforest, which in turn is very important for limiting global warming.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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