MACRON: ‘Our house is burning’, as Amazon fires rage on.

Macron: ‘Our house is burning’, as Amazon fires rage on.
By NewsDesk Team
City of London Newsroom

French president, Emanuel Macron has sent a “plea” Tweet, in effect to the World, saying “Our house is burning.’

In a statement he said the record number of fires in the Amazon rain-forest is now an “international crisis” that needs to top the agenda at this weekend’s G7 summit.
However, his platitudes met with dissent primarily by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro; widely seen as an arch hypocrite, reacted by branding it a publicity stunt and motivated for “political gain”.
He said calls to discuss the fires at the G7 summit in Biarritz, which Brazil is not participating in, relay “a misplaced colonialist mindset”.

The largest rain-forest in the world, the Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming.

Many conservationists have blamed Mr Bolsonaro’s government for the Amazon’s plight, saying that he has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land.

Mr Bolsonaro has suggested that non-governmental organisations 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.