Protesters gather outside Brazilian embassy in London amid Amazon wildfires
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Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Brazilian Embassy in London today, voicing their anger against President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of wildfires that have engulfed the Amazon rainforest.
Environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion led the protests in the capital,
along with other major cities across the globe, joining the chorus of condemnation
that world leaders, including Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, have made
against the Brazilian government’s response to the crisis.
More than 800 people attended this morning’s London rally, according to a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.
Read more: Climate activists throw red paint at Brazil’s London embassy
Earlier today Ireland and France both stated they will vote against any trade deal between the European Union and the South American trade bloc Mercosur, unless action is taken to resolve the crisis.
Roughly 73,000 forest fires, most of which were in the Amazon, have been recorded in Brazil in the first eight months of this year – the highest annual figure since 2013.
“There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments,” said the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
On the eve of the G7 summit in France, a French government source told AFP that Emmanuel Macron believed that Bolsonaro had “lied” to him at that G20 meeting in June about Brazil’s genuine commitments to climate change.
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In Paris similar protests have taken place, with demonstrators holding placards with messages such as “Bolsonaro Out” outside the Brazil Embassy, according to Reuters.
Earlier this month climate activists covered the Brazilian embassy, which is based in Mayfair, with red paint amid growing outrage over the fate of the Amazon rain forest.
Two Extinction Rebellion activists climbed onto a glass awning above the embassy’s entrance, while others fixed themselves to the windows with glue.
They left red hand prints and streaks of paint across the facade, writing “no more indigenous blood,” and “for the wild.”