In remarks made on the occasion of President Michel Temer's two-day official trip to Norway, the Norwegian government assessed bilateral cooperation between the two countries as a "great success" and stated that Norway considers itself a "proud partner" of Brazil on environment issues. The remarks came from Norway's Minister of Climate and the Environment, Vidar Helgesen.

In a statement published on the official website of the Norwegian government, Helgesen praised the efforts of Brazilian environment minister José Sarney Filho to reduce deforestation rates in Brazil. "I’m heartened by the strong commitment expressed by minister José Sarney Filho to increase command and control efforts, and his assurances that Ibama’s budget for this purpose is being strengthened," he said.

Helgesen added that the reduction in Norwegian payments to the Amazon Fund "should not in any way be understood as a weakening of our commitment to the partnership. On the contrary, we stand by our commitments, and if deforestation is brought back down, our payments will go back up."

Since 2009, Norway has contributed US$ 1.1 billion to the Amazon Fund, which carries out projects to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation, as well as to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the Legal Amazon.

Article

Temer said the explanations given by himself and Minister Sarney Filho to the Norwegian authorities on the deforestation rates in Brazil clarified the aspects governing the partnership.

“I'm even proposing to Sarney that the conversations he held there, the presentation he made, be reproduced in an article to be published in the Norwegian press," Temer said after a meeting with Norwegian Parliament Speaker Olemic Thommessen in Oslo.