Brazil, France launch $1.1 billion program to protect Amazon rainforest

Brazil and France announced on Tuesday the launch of an investment program in the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon rainforest involving 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in private and public funds over the next four years, according to a joint statement.The announced was made during French President Emmanuel Macron's three-day visit to the South American country, where he landed on Tuesday in Belem, near the mouth of the Amazon, and was met by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"Gathered in Belem, in the heart of the Amazon, we, Brazil and France, Amazonian countries, have decided to join forces to promote an international roadmap for protection of tropical forests," they said in a joint statement.

Their pledge to work together to stop deforestation in the Amazon by 2030 to contribute to slowing global warming comes two years before Brazil hosts the COP30 climate negotiations talks in Belen in 2025.