RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesperson said on Friday, August 23th, that the fires in the Amazon constitute an “urgent situation” to be discussed during the G7 summit this weekend.
The declaration comes in support of a request from French president Emmanuel Macron in this regard.
“The Chancellor is convinced” that the issue “should be on the agenda of the G7 countries when they meet this weekend” in Biarritz, said Steffen Seibert in Berlin. Merkel “fully supports the French president” on this point, added the spokesperson.
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, also expressed support for Macron’s call. Yesterday, on Twitter, he said he “could not agree more” with the French president’s statements. “We need to act for the Amazon and for our planet,” he wrote.
In addition to the G7 leaders, the Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, also spoke on the subject. He threatened to vote against the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union if Brazil does not respect its “environmental commitments”.