By Jarrett Renshaw
LIMA (Reuters) – Joe Biden will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest (NASDAQ 🙂 on Sunday, as he points out the dangers of global warming often ignored by Donald Trump, who arrives at the White House in January promising to eliminate measures to fight climate change.
Biden travels from Lima, Peru, to Manaus, Brazil, to meet with local leaders working to preserve the Amazon, before flying to Rio de Janeiro for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies that will address issues ranging from hunger and poverty to global governance. and climate change.
Scientists say conservation of the Amazon is vital to curbing climate change because of the large amount of carbon dioxide its trees absorb, which warms the climate.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has vowed to end deforestation in his country’s rainforest by 2030 and urged wealthy nations to contribute to the cause.
Last year, Biden said he would request $500 million from the US Congress to support the Amazon Fund administered by Brazil. However, by July the United States had fulfilled only a tenth of that promise.
Trump has called climate change a hoax and plans to roll back much of Biden’s landmark climate legislation to help pay for the extension of tax cuts won in his first term.
The incoming Republican president also aims to boost record U.S. oil and production and eliminate rules imposed by Biden to remove gasoline-powered cars from American roads.