The Brazilian authorities were very disappointed with the $50 million (more than €46 million) announced last Friday evening by the US as a donation to the Amazon forest fund. Neither Lula, who had met with US President Joe Biden in Washington shortly before the announcement, nor any of the other officials around the US or Brazil visit publicly expressed this disappointment, but behind the scenes the mood was quite disappointed.
In Brazilian political and diplomatic circles, receiving a US financial donation for Amazon was considered a great triumph for Lula’s visit to the US, but no one expected such a small sum. Two other major donors to the Amazon Fund, Germany and Norway, jointly donated 636 million euros, and the wealthy United States was expected to make an equally substantial donation to the fund.
After announcing the donation through the US official communiqué and not through Biden’s speech, which also disappointed the Brazilians, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Itamaraty, tried not to externalize the disappointment and, also in the communique, he stated that the value of the donation is not the most important thing at the moment. the main thing is that the United States has shown a willingness to help save the Amazon. But diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had expected much more, expressing equally annoyance that even this $50 million donation is not immediate, but is subject to rules to be determined by U.S. climate special adviser John Kerry, who will will visit Brazil for weeks to determine how the money will be available.