Biden Pledges Amazon Aid in First-Ever Visit by a U.S. President to the Rainforest

On a visit to Brazil on Sunday, President Joe Biden became the first sitting president from the United States to visit the Amazon rainforest.

Biden promised funding to protect Earth’s largest tropical rainforest, and signed a proclamation making November 17 International Conservation Day, reported Reuters.

During his four-hour visit to Manaus — the largest Amazon city — Biden announced a $50 million contribution from the U.S. to the Amazon Fund. The pledge brings the country’s total to $100 million to support biodiversity in the rainforest, plant native trees and restore lands.

“The world’s forest trees breathe carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and yet each minute, the world is chopping down the equivalent (of) 10 soccer fields worth of forest,” Biden told reporters, as Reuters reported.

Biden was on his way to the Group of 20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, which will tackle issues like global governance, poverty and the climate crisis.

During the brief stopover, Biden saw first-hand how much water levels have fallen due to severe drought in the region. Nobel Prize-winning scientist Carlos Nobre of Brazil accompanied Biden on the helicopter survey. Nobre has said deforestation in the Amazon has altered weather patterns that sustain its tropical rainforest climate.

“It’s often said that the Amazon is the lungs of the world,” Biden said from Manaus, as reported by The New York Times. “But in my view, our forest and national wonders are the heart and soul of the world. The Amazon rainforest was built up over 15 million years. Fifteen million years history is literally watching us now.”

The Amazon rainforest is essential in the fight to mitigate global heating due to the enormous amount of carbon dioxide its diverse array of trees absorb.

During his visit, Biden also met with Indigenous leaders at the Manaus’ Museum of the Amazon.

Incoming U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called climate change “a hoax” and has promised to increase oil and gas exploration. He has also vowed to eliminate rules put in place by the Biden administration to reduce the number of gas-powered cars on U.S. roads.

In his address, Biden spoke of the “enormous economic opportunity” of renewable energy, declaring that the transition away from fossil fuels was too far along to undo.

“I will leave my successor and my country a strong foundation to build on if they choose to do so. It’s true, some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America. But nobody, nobody can reverse it. Nobody,” Biden said during his remarks, as CNN reported. “Not when so many people regardless of party or politics are enjoying its benefits. Not when countries around the world are harnessing the clean energy revolution to pull ahead themselves. The question now is: Which government will stand in the way and which will seize the enormous economic opportunity?”