Lula and the monarch met at Buckingham Palace on Friday night, on the eve of the British nobleman’s coronation.
“The first thing the king told me was that I had to take care of the Amazon. I replied: ‘I need help,'” explained the president of the South American giant, which is home to more than 60% of the largest tropical forest on the planet, during a conference press in London.
The Brazilian President on Saturday called on the industrialized countries to “take the climate problem very seriously”.
On Friday, following a meeting between Lula and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the UK pledged to provide £80m (about €92m) to the Amazon Fund, set up in 2008 to protect the forest and of which Norway is the main donor.
As he did at COP-27 in Egypt in November, Lula slammed developed countries for failing to meet their 2009 pledge of $100 billion a year in climate aid to adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the poorest , have not met countries.
“These countries that destroyed their forests during their industrialization 200 years ago need to understand that they have a debt in terms of carbon emissions, and they need to pay that debt so that we can conserve our forest,” Lula added.
Lula, who previously ruled the South American country from 2003 to 2010, returned to power for a third term last January and vowed to make conservation of the Amazon a priority of his term and end illegal deforestation by 2030.
“It’s a matter of honor,” he insisted in London.
Under the presidency of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, average annual deforestation in the Amazon increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.
© 2023 AFP