FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron says the record number of fires in the Amazon rainforest should be on top of the G7 summit agenda.
In a tweet on Thursday he said the fires were an “international crisis” and “our house is burning.”
But Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro responded by accusing Macron of using the issue for “political gain,” BBC is reporting.
He said calls to discuss the fires at the G7 summit, which Brazil is not participating in, evoke “a misplaced colonialist mindset”.
Satellite data published by the National Institute for Space Research has shown an increase of 85% of fires across Brazil for the year with most of them in the Amazon region.
According to the BBC, conservationists have blamed Bolsonaro’s government for the Amazon’s plight, saying that he has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land.
In his tweet, Macron said, “Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest – the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen – is on fire. It is an international crisis, Members of the G7, let’s discuss this emergency first order in two days #ActForTheAmazon.”
