Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck has praised plans by the new Brazilian government led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to protect the Amazon rainforest. During a visit to the company in Belo Horizonte on Sunday, the Green politician said that the Brazilian government under Lula had set a target of stopping deforestation by 2030. Habeck spoke of a hopeful sign. "In any case, I can get tears in my eyes that a government is turning things around like that."
Conversely, Brazilians could expect Germany to make its contributions, Habeck said. "We have to get out of coal, we have to make sure that we comply with our climate protection requirements in all areas, otherwise Europe will of course lose its claim against others."
Search for coal consensus
In Germany, it has been agreed for the Rhenish mining area to bring forward the phase-out of coal by eight years to 2030. Habeck wants to achieve this by consensus for the East German lignite mining areas, but there is a lot of resistance there.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had advocated the exploitation of the Amazon region. Left-wing politician Lula, who was sworn in as President of Brazil for the third time on January 1, was not exactly considered an environmentalist in his previous terms (early 2003 - late 2010), but has now promised to prioritize environmental and climate protection. The EU and the South American confederation Mercosur have been negotiating a free trade agreement for a long time. In this context, Habeck emphasized the importance of protecting the rainforest.
Hydrogen from Brazil?
The Green politician called Brazil a "premium partner" for the German economy. He emphasized the economic opportunities in building a hydrogen economy. "Green" hydrogen, which is produced on the basis of renewable energies, plays a key role for the federal government in the climate-neutral restructuring of the economy.
Because of the climatic conditions, Brazil is considered a good location for the production of hydrogen. Habeck visited the German company Neumann
