EBN- Joe Biden is set to become the first US president to visit the Amazon rainforest, as he warns of the dangers of global warming that his predecessor Donald Trump ignored, vowing to roll back climate change measures after returning to the White House in January.
Biden will travel from Lima, Peru, to Manaus, Brazil, to meet with local leaders working to protect the Amazon before heading to Rio de Janeiro for the G20 summit of major economies, which is set to address issues including hunger and poverty as well as global governance and climate change.
Scientists say preserving the Amazon forests is vital to combating climate change because the trees absorb a large amount of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pledged to halt deforestation by 2030, calling on rich countries to support the effort.
Biden said last year he would ask the US Congress to allocate $500 million to support the Brazilian-run Amazon fund but by July the US had provided only a tenth of that amount.
But Trump calls climate change a hoax and plans to roll back most of Biden’s major climate legislation to help pay for extending tax cuts passed in his first term.
The incoming Republican president also aims to increase U.S. oil and natural gas production, which is already at record levels, and to roll back rules Biden imposed to reduce the use of gasoline-powered cars on American roads.
