MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — Joe Biden on Sunday became the first sitting American president to set foot in the Amazon rainforest, as incoming Trump administration seems poised to scale back the U.S. commitment to combating climate change.
The massive Amazon, which is about the size of Australia, stores huge amounts of the world’s carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas driving climate change, even as the world’s largest tropical rainforest is rapidly deforested. Biden is expected to be taken over a stretch of the rainforest where he would get a good view of the shallowing of waterways, fire damage and a wildlife refuge. He’s also expected to get a peek at where the Rio Negro and Amazon Rivers meet.
He will then meet local and indigenous leaders and visit an Amazonian museum as he looks to highlight his commitment to the preservation of the region. His administration announced plans last year for a $500 million contribution to the , 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, and the announced Sunday an additional $50 million contribution to the fund. “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. “That said, we can’t expe.
