Norway Ponies Up $1B to Help Save Rainforests

Brazil seeks more donors in fight against deforestation, climate change
By Rebecca Smith Hurd,  Newser User
Posted Sep 17, 2008 8:15 PM CDT
Norway Ponies Up $1B to Help Save Rainforests
Police guard a raft loaded with logs illegally cut from the Amazon. Environmentalists say demand for agricultural products has prompted farmers to raze rainforest land for fields and pastures.   (AP Photo)

Brazil’s renewed push to save the rainforest gained support from a far-flung proponent today when oil-rich Norway pledged nearly $1 billion, the BBC reports. “Efforts against deforestation may give us the largest, quickest, and cheapest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions," said Norway's prime minister. "Brazilian efforts (are) of vital importance if we shall succeed in our campaign against global warming."

Brazil is among the world's largest producers of greenhouse gas, mostly because of the burning of trees in the Amazon. Its government in August set up an international fund, calling for $21 billion in foreign donations by 2021. Norway's money will pay for conservation, sustainable development, and alternatives to forest-clearing over the next 7 years. (More Amazon rainforest stories.)

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