Biden visits Amazon rainforest en route to G20 summit
Joe Biden will become the first sitting US president to visit the Amazon rainforest as he flags the dangers of global warming often dismissed by Donald Trump, who will enter the White House vowing to scrap measures to fight climate change.
Biden is travelling from Lima, Peru, to Manaus, Brazil, to meet with local leaders working to preserve the Amazon before he flies to Rio de Janeiro for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies addressing issues from hunger and poverty to global governance and climate change.
Scientists say the conservation of the Amazon is vital to curbing climate change because of the vast amount of climate-warming carbon dioxide its trees absorb.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed to end deforestation in his country’s rainforest by 2030 and urged wealthy nations to contribute to the cause.
Biden said in 2023 he would request $US500 million ($A774 million) from the US Congress to support the Brazilian-administered Amazon Fund.
However, by July the US had delivered on just 10 per cent of that pledge.
Trump has called climate change a hoax and plans to roll back much of Biden’s landmark climate legislation to help pay for the extension of tax cuts secured in his first term.
The incoming Republican president also aims to boost record US oil and natural gas production and eliminate rules imposed by Biden to wean gasoline-powered cars off US roads.
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