BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany is open to unfreezing payments to Brazil under a fund for the Amazon rainforest, a German development ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, after Brazil elected a new president who had campaigned on promises to protect the region.
“Germany supports this fund,” the spokesperson said at a regular news conference in Berlin, adding: “Within the government, there is a great willingness to quickly reach out to Brazil.”
Berlin is to discuss the issue with the transition team in Brazil, he said.
The Amazon Fund, endowed with well over $500 million from Germany and Norway combined, was frozen in 2019 after outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro took office and weakened environmental protection measures in the world’s largest rainforest.
Bolsonaro lost Sunday’s election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has promised to protect the Amazon rainforest and restore Brazil’s leadership on climate change.
The timeline for reactivating the fund depends on how quickly Brazil creates the conditions for resuming work on it, the German ministry spokesperson said.
This is unlikely to be the case before the new government of Brazil takes office in the new year, he said.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray and Rachel More)
