Can Europe make trade into a tool for fighting climate change?
The fires ravaging the Amazon are so large you can see them from space. But to the countries in which the rainforest lies, the crisis is a domestic problem. “The majority of the countries that integrate the Amazon [need a joint response] to guarantee our sovereignty and natural wealth,” said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday.
The European Union, however, sees the Amazon fires as a global problem that affects it too. And the bloc is using its influence to try and bring about an end to the blazes and to address climate change more broadly.
As the United States steps back its leadership on environmental issues, the EU is moving into the breach.
Trade as leverage“We need to address the root causes”
