SAO PAULO (AP) — Joe Biden will become the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in the Amazon rainforest during a brief stop Sunday in the Brazilian city of Manaus, coming as the U.
S. is expected to scale back its commitment to combating climate change under the incoming administration of Donald Trump. The massive Amazon — it’s about the size of Australia — stores huge amounts of the world’s carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas driving climate change, even as it’s rapidly deforested.
Biden is expected to take an aerial tour over part of the world’s largest tropical rainforest, meet local and indigenous leaders and visit an Amazonian museum as he looks to highlight his commitment to the preservation of the region. The Biden administration announced plans last year for a $500 million contribution to the Amazon Fund , the most significant international cooperation effort to preserve the rainforest, primarily financed by Norway. So far, the U.
S. government said it has provided $50 million, according to a July statement from its embassy in Brazil, adding it would “continue to work with Congress to secure the remaining funding for the Amazon Fund and related activities through 2028.” “It’s significant for a sitting president to visit the Amazon.
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This shows a personal commitment from the president,” said Suely Araújo, former head of the Brazilian environmental protection agency and public policy coordinator with the nonprofit Climate Observatory. “Tha.