BRASILIA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Norway announced on Monday a donation of around 350 million reais ($63.58 million) to Brazil’s Amazon Fund, the country’s embassy in Brasilia said, as it recognized the “historical decline” in deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest.
• Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest declined to the lowest level on record in the 12 months through July, Brazilian space research agency Inpe said last month
• Norway’s embassy said in a statement that the donation was based on the positive results and reinforced the long-term partnership between the two countries
• “Brazil’s results are impressive and important not just for the country, but for the whole world,” Norwegian Climate and Environment Minister Sigrun Aasland said in the statement
• Norway has contributed some 3.8 billion reais to the fund aimed at preserving the Amazon rainforest since its creation in 2008, by far its largest donor
• Other donors include Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, Japan and Ireland
• Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was reelected last month, has pledged to zero illegal deforestation in Brazil by 2030; Lula on Monday traveled to the COP31 UN climate summit in Turkey
($1 = 5.5053 reais)
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Gabriel Araujo and Chizu Nomiyama)
