Biden Administration Pledges $500 Million To The Amazon Fund

On April 20, during a meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), President Biden pledged $500 million to the Amazon Fund, Brazil's signature fund set up to raise donations for investments to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon region. If approved by Congress, the pledge would make the U.S. the largest donor to the Amazon Fund after Norway, which has already donated more than $1.2 billion.

The Amazon Fund was established by Brazil in 2008 during President Lula's first term in office. Activities of the fund were suspended in 2019 during the tenure of the previous President, Jair Bolsonaro. We have previously reported that since taking office in January President Lula has embarked on an ambitious environmental agenda vowing to revitalize federal environmental protection agencies to curb deforestation in the Amazon. In January, we covered the first significant environmental enforcement activity carried out by the