France and Ireland declare opposition to trade deal over Amazon fires
Source: The Guardian
France and Ireland declare opposition to trade deal over Amazon fires
Brazil’s handling of forest fires set to top agenda of G7 countries at meeting in Biarritz this weekend
Julian Borger and Angelique Chrisafis in Biarritz
Fri 23 Aug 2019 14.06 BST First published on Fri 23 Aug 2019 13.07 BST
France and Ireland have said they will oppose an EU trade deal with South American countries unless Brazil takes action to stop the burning of the Amazon.
On the eve of a meeting of the G7 nations in Biarritz, an Élysée source said Emmanuel Macron thought Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, “lied” to him at the G20 meeting in Osaka in June about his climate commitments and therefore France would oppose the Mercosur treaty.
“The decisions and comments of Brazil show that President Bolsonaro has decided not to respect his commitments on the climate or biodiversity,” a French official told AFP.
The Mercosur (Southern Common Market) treaty with four Latin American countries – Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – was signed in June after two decades of negotiation but has not yet been ratified.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/ireland-could-oppose-trade-deal-brazil-fails-stop-amazon-fires-leo-varadkar