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President Biden met today with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.  President Biden thanked Prime Minister Trudeau for Canada’s strong partnership as weaddress the main challenges of our time, including creating jobs and opportunities for the middle class, combating climate change, managing migration, strengthening our alliances including NATO, and addressing humanitarian needs in Haiti and globally.  President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the shared goal of continental and Arctic defense, and underscored the importance of Canadian defense investment and the modernization of the Columbia River Treaty.  The two leaders agreed that strengthening democracy and rule of law were essential to the prosperity and success of North America.   

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The post Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada appeared first on The White House.

President Biden met today with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.  President Biden thanked Prime Minister Trudeau for Canada’s strong partnership as weaddress the main challenges of our time, including creating jobs and opportunities for the middle class, combating climate change, managing migration, strengthening our alliances including NATO, and addressing humanitarian needs in Haiti and globally.  President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the shared goal of continental and Arctic defense, and underscored the importance of Canadian defense investment and the modernization of the Columbia River Treaty.  The two leaders agreed that strengthening democracy and rule of law were essential to the prosperity and success of North America.   

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The post Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada appeared first on The White House.

Dear Mr. Speaker:

With the Congress now back in session, I write to request urgently needed emergency funding to provide for an expeditious and meaningful Federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters.  In the weeks since these deadly storms tore through communities across the Southeast, members of my Administration and I have traveled to Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina to meet with families, business owners, farmers, local and State officials, and first responders to stand with these communities in the wake of these disasters and to hear firsthand what they need from the Federal Government in order to make a full recovery.  Additional resources are critical to continue to support these communities.

Over the past month, members of my Administration have written to you and other congressional leaders to underscore the urgent need for additional funding to replenish key disaster response programs. Most urgently, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster loan program has completely exhausted its funding and the Congress must act as soon as possible to restore this funding.  As I outlined in my October 4th letter, my Administration has repeatedly underscored the need for the Congress to prevent a shortfall.  SBA loans are a pivotal lifeline for local businesses as well as individual survivors who use these loans to repair and rebuild their homes and replace or repair damaged property, including their personal vehicles.  SBA has already received over 100,000 loan applications for Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the American people cannot afford any further delay in the restoration of this vital funding.

Urgent funding is also needed for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses to help individuals and communities across the Nation recover from disasters.  Without additional funding, the DRF will face a shortfall this fiscal year, which will impact FEMA’s ability to provide life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to disaster survivors, as well as slow recovery from ongoing and prior disasters.  Funding for the Department of Agriculture is necessary to provide assistance to farmers, ranchers, and rural communities across the Nation affected by natural disasters.  Funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program is critical to help communities respond to the impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as the devastating fires in Maui and tornados in Mississippi, Iowa, and Oklahoma.  My Administration is also requesting funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect critical access to safe drinking water, for the Department of Energy to rapidly restore power and rebuild the electric grid to better withstand future storms, and for the Department of Transportation to support rebuilding roads and bridges across 40 States and Territories, including Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.  Additional funding for the EPA is also needed to protect drinking water infrastructure, fund water system upgrades that would improve system performance, mitigate further future damage from extreme weather, and improve systems for low- and moderate-income households.

Additional action must also be taken to address the severe shortage of intravenous (IV) fluids and other critical medical products caused by Hurricane Helene.  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took critical steps this month to support access to these products, including ensuring restoration of key production sites, protecting products, and opening imports in partnership with manufacturers, distributors, hospitals, and other stakeholders.  My Administration is requesting funding for HHS to build supply chain capacity and resilience for IV fluids and other critical medical products to respond to current needs and to better prepare for disasters in the future.  In addition, Hurricanes Helene and Milton are expected to exhaust available funding balances for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), forcing the program to add to its debt to the Department of the Treasury. My Administration urges the Congress to cancel some or all of the NFIP’s debt to ensure NFIP policyholders and disaster survivors have a sustainable flood insurance program that provides the assistance they need after disaster strikes.

The Congress must also extend the deadlines for Hermit’s Peak fire claimants to request FEMA assistance, in order to ensure all applicants can receive compensation for losses in the aftermath of the fires in New Mexico.

The Congress has previously responded on a bipartisan basis to support communities in the wake of natural disasters — including providing over $90 billion in aid after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, over $50 billion following Hurricane Sandy in 2013, and over $120 billion following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017.  Just as the Congress acted then, it is our sworn duty now to deliver the necessary resources to ensure that everyone in communities reeling from Hurricanes Helene and Milton — and those still recovering from previous disasters — have the Federal resources they need and deserve.

From rebuilding homes and reopening critical infrastructure, such as schools and roads — to supporting the Nation’s farmers and ranchers and ensuring access to healthcare services — impacted communities await your response.  There can be no delay.  I urge the Congress to act quickly to pass a supplemental funding package to assist communities impacted by these hurricanes — and every other disaster since the Congress last passed a comprehensive disaster package in 2022 — so that the people, families, businesses, and communities affected have the support they need to respond, recover, and rebuild responsibly.

Since the need for this funding arises from unforeseen and unanticipated events, my Administration continues to request that the amounts in this supplemental request be designated as emergency requirements pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

My Administration will be with those affected until the job is done. This request of supplemental funds is focused on the accounts that are most critical to aiding disaster survivors and impacted communities. My Administration will continue to assess the full resource requirements associated with long-term rebuilding and resilience efforts resulting from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, including those costs related to impacts to Federal facilities and infrastructure, and we will share those estimates as they become available. I urge the Congress to take immediate action, and I look forward to your partnership in delivering this critical relief to the American people.

                               Sincerely,

                               JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Requesting for Additional Funding for Disaster Relief appeared first on The White House.

Dear Mr. Speaker:

With the Congress now back in session, I write to request urgently needed emergency funding to provide for an expeditious and meaningful Federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters.  In the weeks since these deadly storms tore through communities across the Southeast, members of my Administration and I have traveled to Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina to meet with families, business owners, farmers, local and State officials, and first responders to stand with these communities in the wake of these disasters and to hear firsthand what they need from the Federal Government in order to make a full recovery.  Additional resources are critical to continue to support these communities.

Over the past month, members of my Administration have written to you and other congressional leaders to underscore the urgent need for additional funding to replenish key disaster response programs. Most urgently, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster loan program has completely exhausted its funding and the Congress must act as soon as possible to restore this funding.  As I outlined in my October 4th letter, my Administration has repeatedly underscored the need for the Congress to prevent a shortfall.  SBA loans are a pivotal lifeline for local businesses as well as individual survivors who use these loans to repair and rebuild their homes and replace or repair damaged property, including their personal vehicles.  SBA has already received over 100,000 loan applications for Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the American people cannot afford any further delay in the restoration of this vital funding.

Urgent funding is also needed for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses to help individuals and communities across the Nation recover from disasters.  Without additional funding, the DRF will face a shortfall this fiscal year, which will impact FEMA’s ability to provide life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to disaster survivors, as well as slow recovery from ongoing and prior disasters.  Funding for the Department of Agriculture is necessary to provide assistance to farmers, ranchers, and rural communities across the Nation affected by natural disasters.  Funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program is critical to help communities respond to the impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as the devastating fires in Maui and tornados in Mississippi, Iowa, and Oklahoma.  My Administration is also requesting funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect critical access to safe drinking water, for the Department of Energy to rapidly restore power and rebuild the electric grid to better withstand future storms, and for the Department of Transportation to support rebuilding roads and bridges across 40 States and Territories, including Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.  Additional funding for the EPA is also needed to protect drinking water infrastructure, fund water system upgrades that would improve system performance, mitigate further future damage from extreme weather, and improve systems for low- and moderate-income households.

Additional action must also be taken to address the severe shortage of intravenous (IV) fluids and other critical medical products caused by Hurricane Helene.  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took critical steps this month to support access to these products, including ensuring restoration of key production sites, protecting products, and opening imports in partnership with manufacturers, distributors, hospitals, and other stakeholders.  My Administration is requesting funding for HHS to build supply chain capacity and resilience for IV fluids and other critical medical products to respond to current needs and to better prepare for disasters in the future.  In addition, Hurricanes Helene and Milton are expected to exhaust available funding balances for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), forcing the program to add to its debt to the Department of the Treasury. My Administration urges the Congress to cancel some or all of the NFIP’s debt to ensure NFIP policyholders and disaster survivors have a sustainable flood insurance program that provides the assistance they need after disaster strikes.

The Congress must also extend the deadlines for Hermit’s Peak fire claimants to request FEMA assistance, in order to ensure all applicants can receive compensation for losses in the aftermath of the fires in New Mexico.

The Congress has previously responded on a bipartisan basis to support communities in the wake of natural disasters — including providing over $90 billion in aid after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, over $50 billion following Hurricane Sandy in 2013, and over $120 billion following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017.  Just as the Congress acted then, it is our sworn duty now to deliver the necessary resources to ensure that everyone in communities reeling from Hurricanes Helene and Milton — and those still recovering from previous disasters — have the Federal resources they need and deserve.

From rebuilding homes and reopening critical infrastructure, such as schools and roads — to supporting the Nation’s farmers and ranchers and ensuring access to healthcare services — impacted communities await your response.  There can be no delay.  I urge the Congress to act quickly to pass a supplemental funding package to assist communities impacted by these hurricanes — and every other disaster since the Congress last passed a comprehensive disaster package in 2022 — so that the people, families, businesses, and communities affected have the support they need to respond, recover, and rebuild responsibly.

Since the need for this funding arises from unforeseen and unanticipated events, my Administration continues to request that the amounts in this supplemental request be designated as emergency requirements pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

My Administration will be with those affected until the job is done. This request of supplemental funds is focused on the accounts that are most critical to aiding disaster survivors and impacted communities. My Administration will continue to assess the full resource requirements associated with long-term rebuilding and resilience efforts resulting from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, including those costs related to impacts to Federal facilities and infrastructure, and we will share those estimates as they become available. I urge the Congress to take immediate action, and I look forward to your partnership in delivering this critical relief to the American people.

                               Sincerely,

                               JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Requesting for Additional Funding for Disaster Relief appeared first on The White House.

Museu da Amazônia
Manaus, Brazil

3:39 P.M. AMT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thanks for all being here.

Back in the late ‘80s, Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper who turned environmental activist, said the following, I quote, “At first, I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees.  Then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest.  Now I realize I was fighting for humanity.” 

At the time, I was a United States senator, working with a great Republican senator named Dick Lugar, from Indiana, to enact a new law: The United States would relieve other countries of debts owed to us if they commit to protecting their own forest.

These debt-for-nature swaps have since protected nearly 70 million acres of forests worldwide.

And today I’m proud to be here, the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest, to recommit to protecting the rainforests, like this one.

The most powerful solutions we have to fight climate change is all around us: the world’s forests.

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 forests — each minute. 

That’s why we’ve been a leader internationally in the fight to end and reverse deforestation by twenty-twe- — by 2030.

That’s why we’ve led by example at home, conserving an area of the U.S. lands and waters larger — larger than the state of — the nation of Uruguay.

We’ve done it by fighting for Tribal partners — lifting them up; Indigenous communities; and most impacted by deforestation and climate change.

Today’s announcement will support Indigenous communities to do some — the same here in the Amazon.

We all know there’s much more we can do and must do at home and abroad.

That’s why today I issued an official proclamation to support the conservation of nature around the world, because the fight to protect our planet is literally a fight for humanity for generations to come.  It may be the only existential threat to all our nations and to all humanity that exists.

With today’s proclamation, I am proud to announce, first, the United States Development Finance Corporation will mobilize hundreds of millions of dollars in partnership with a Brazilian company to reforest the Amazon.

Second, we’re launching a Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition to mobilize at least $10 billion by 2030 to restore and protect 20,000 square miles of land. 

And, third, I’m announcing an additional $50 million to the Amazon Fund that’s already — we’ve giv- — already given $50 million.

Fourth, we’ll provide the funding to help launch President Lula’s important new initiative, the Tropical Forest Forever Fund.  It’s in the interest of all of us.  The United States benefits from that as much as any other country does, including here in Brazil.

I’m also so proud to support bipartisan legislation to launch a new foundation for international conservation that would leverage public funds to mobilize billions more in private capital.

The fight against climate change has been a defining cause of my presidency.

My administration first rejoined the Paris Agreement on climate change.  We’ve launched 150-nation-strong Global Methane Pledge.  We’ve delivered a record climate financing to developing countries.  And we’ve pledged that we would deliver $11 billion per year by 2024.  I’m pleased to announce today that we not only kept that promise, we’ve surpassed it.

Back home, I signed the most significant climate change law in history, a law that positioned us to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, that’s generated $450 billion in new clean energy investments, and that’s created hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and a manufacturing boom as well.

Folks, we don’t have to choose between the environment and the economy.  You can do both.  We’ve proven it back home.

It’s no secret that I’m leaving office in January.  I will have my su- — I will leave my successor and my country in a strong foundation to build on if they choose to do so.

It’s true some may seek to la- — deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America, but nobody — nobody can reverse it — nobody.  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? 

Let me close with this.  It’s often said that the Amazon is the lungs of the world — the Amazon is the lungs of the world.  But in my view, our forests and national wonders are the heart and soul of the world. 

They unite us.  They inspire us.  They make us proud of our countries and heritage — a bridge to the past and to our future, a birthright we pass down from generation to generation. 

Zama- — the Amazon rainforest was built up over 50 million years — 50 million years.  History is literally watching us now. 

So, let’s preserve this sacred place, for our time and forever, for the benefit of all humanity.

Thank you very, very much.  (Applause.)

3:46 P.M. AMT

The post Remarks by President Biden in Statement to Press | Manaus, Brazil appeared first on The White House.

Museu da Amazônia
Manaus, Brazil

3:39 P.M. AMT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thanks for all being here.

Back in the late ‘80s, Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper who turned environmental activist, said the following, I quote, “At first, I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees.  Then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest.  Now I realize I was fighting for humanity.” 

At the time, I was a United States senator, working with a great Republican senator named Dick Lugar, from Indiana, to enact a new law: The United States would relieve other countries of debts owed to us if they commit to protecting their own forest.

These debt-for-nature swaps have since protected nearly 70 million acres of forests worldwide.

And today I’m proud to be here, the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest, to recommit to protecting the rainforests, like this one.

The most powerful solutions we have to fight climate change is all around us: the world’s forests.

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 forests — each minute. 

That’s why we’ve been a leader internationally in the fight to end and reverse deforestation by twenty-twe- — by 2030.

That’s why we’ve led by example at home, conserving an area of the U.S. lands and waters larger — larger than the state of — the nation of Uruguay.

We’ve done it by fighting for Tribal partners — lifting them up; Indigenous communities; and most impacted by deforestation and climate change.

Today’s announcement will support Indigenous communities to do some — the same here in the Amazon.

We all know there’s much more we can do and must do at home and abroad.

That’s why today I issued an official proclamation to support the conservation of nature around the world, because the fight to protect our planet is literally a fight for humanity for generations to come.  It may be the only existential threat to all our nations and to all humanity that exists.

With today’s proclamation, I am proud to announce, first, the United States Development Finance Corporation will mobilize hundreds of millions of dollars in partnership with a Brazilian company to reforest the Amazon.

Second, we’re launching a Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition to mobilize at least $10 billion by 2030 to restore and protect 20,000 square miles of land. 

And, third, I’m announcing an additional $50 million to the Amazon Fund that’s already — we’ve giv- — already given $50 million.

Fourth, we’ll provide the funding to help launch President Lula’s important new initiative, the Tropical Forest Forever Fund.  It’s in the interest of all of us.  The United States benefits from that as much as any other country does, including here in Brazil.

I’m also so proud to support bipartisan legislation to launch a new foundation for international conservation that would leverage public funds to mobilize billions more in private capital.

The fight against climate change has been a defining cause of my presidency.

My administration first rejoined the Paris Agreement on climate change.  We’ve launched 150-nation-strong Global Methane Pledge.  We’ve delivered a record climate financing to developing countries.  And we’ve pledged that we would deliver $11 billion per year by 2024.  I’m pleased to announce today that we not only kept that promise, we’ve surpassed it.

Back home, I signed the most significant climate change law in history, a law that positioned us to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, that’s generated $450 billion in new clean energy investments, and that’s created hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and a manufacturing boom as well.

Folks, we don’t have to choose between the environment and the economy.  You can do both.  We’ve proven it back home.

It’s no secret that I’m leaving office in January.  I will have my su- — I will leave my successor and my country in a strong foundation to build on if they choose to do so.

It’s true some may seek to la- — deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America, but nobody — nobody can reverse it — nobody.  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? 

Let me close with this.  It’s often said that the Amazon is the lungs of the world — the Amazon is the lungs of the world.  But in my view, our forests and national wonders are the heart and soul of the world. 

They unite us.  They inspire us.  They make us proud of our countries and heritage — a bridge to the past and to our future, a birthright we pass down from generation to generation. 

Zama- — the Amazon rainforest was built up over 50 million years — 50 million years.  History is literally watching us now. 

So, let’s preserve this sacred place, for our time and forever, for the benefit of all humanity.

Thank you very, very much.  (Applause.)

3:46 P.M. AMT

The post Remarks by President Biden in Statement to Press | Manaus, Brazil appeared first on The White House.

     Today, I am proud to become the first sitting American President to visit the Amazon and to proclaim the first International Conservation Day, reflecting all that is at stake in the fight against climate change and honoring the power and promise of conservation work.  On International Conservation Day, we recommit to working with partners across our Nation and around the world to safeguard our natural treasures.
     When we work together to defend our lands and waters, everyone benefits.  That is because conservation is about more than protecting our world’s beautiful natural wonders — it is about protecting the livelihoods of the people who depend on them; preserving our diverse habitats and the wildlife that lives within them; increasing resiliency throughout our lands, seascapes, and riverscapes; and ensuring our lands and waters can be enjoyed by all.   
     That is why my Administration has delivered on the most ambitious land and water conservation agenda in American history — leading by the power of our example.  When I first came into office, I issued an Executive Order that established the United States’ first-ever conservation goal — aiming to protect at least 30 percent of our Nation’s lands and waters by 2030.  My America the Beautiful initiative has advanced that work by supporting voluntary, locally led conservation and restoration.  These efforts have not only helped local communities, Tribes, farmers, ranchers, foresters, and fishers to address the climate crisis and protect lands and waters.  They have also created jobs, strengthened the economy, and expanded access to the outdoors across our country.  I also signed an Executive Order to safeguard and steward our Nation’s forests and make our ecosystems more resilient in the fight against climate change.  And we launched the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge to protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of our Nation’s rivers and streams to safeguard clean water for all.  
     I am also proud that my Administration made the largest investment in history to confront the climate crisis through my Inflation Reduction Act and has conserved more than 45 million acres of our Nation’s lands and waters.  We have established, expanded, and restored 11 national monuments and protected the United States Arctic Ocean from new oil and gas leasing.  And together with my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have invested in restoration and conservation, including $50 billion to strengthen community and ecosystem resilience to climate change.  Further, I launched the American Climate Corps to mobilize a new, diverse generation of Americans in conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy, and advancing environmental justice — all while creating good jobs.  
     Around the world, my Administration has made extraordinary progress in advancing conservation.  We moved to rejoin the Paris Agreement on day one of my Administration, and we put our country in a position to cut emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.  In 2021, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, we released the Plan to Conserve Global Forests — a first-of-its-kind national strategy to preserve global ecosystems that serve as vital carbon sinks.  We also joined other nations in pledging to end deforestation by 2030, backed by the biggest ever commitment of public funds for forest conservation and a plan to make 75 percent of forest commodity supply chains sustainable.  In 2022, we helped rally countries around the world to commit to conserve at least 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030, mirroring the goal we had set at home.  We also joined other countries at the United Nations to sign the High Seas Treaty, committing to working together to establish marine protected areas on the high seas — a critical step to conserve ocean biodiversity and reach the global community’s goal to conserve or protect at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. 
     My Administration has also delivered record climate financing to support developing countries’ efforts to preserve and protect these vital ecosystems that serve as critical carbon sinks, accelerate the clean energy transition, and bolster their resilience to climate change.  In 2021, I pledged that our Nation would deliver $11 billion per year in climate financing by 2024.  I am proud that we not only kept that promise, but surpassed it.  This includes fulfilling my pledge to invest over $3 billion per year to help vulnerable countries around the world mitigate and adapt to climate change as part of my Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience.  I am also proud that — with our recent $50 million investment — my Administration has provided over $100 million to the Amazon Fund.  At the same time, our Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has helped mobilize over $1 billion in investment to support the restoration of degraded lands in Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile, helping create a market that values keeping this vital ecosystem alive and thriving.  
     There is still so much to do to ensure that we protect our world’s most precious ecosystems and natural treasures.  That is why the DFC is investing in one of the largest reforestation projects in the world, beginning with the Brazilian Amazon.  I am proud that my Administration is working with over a dozen international partners to launch the Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition to mobilize at least $10 billion for land restoration and bioeconomy-related projects by 2030.  And I am proud to support President Lula of Brazil’s bold vision of creating the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, a path-breaking new initiative that would incentivize countries to protect their tropical forests while supporting the local and Indigenous communities stewarding these forests and ensuring these vital ecosystems continue to thrive.  
     It has been said that the Amazon rainforest is the lungs of the world.  Forests like these, that stretch across the Americas, Africa, and Asia — including the Amazon, Tongass, Congo, and Sundaland — represent our heart and soul.  Now more than ever, we must recommit to the urgent work of addressing climate change — together, we can ensure that these treasures will be enjoyed for generations to come.  
     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 17, 2024, as International Conservation Day.  
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

                        JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on International Conservation Day, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

     Today, I am proud to become the first sitting American President to visit the Amazon and to proclaim the first International Conservation Day, reflecting all that is at stake in the fight against climate change and honoring the power and promise of conservation work.  On International Conservation Day, we recommit to working with partners across our Nation and around the world to safeguard our natural treasures.
     When we work together to defend our lands and waters, everyone benefits.  That is because conservation is about more than protecting our world’s beautiful natural wonders — it is about protecting the livelihoods of the people who depend on them; preserving our diverse habitats and the wildlife that lives within them; increasing resiliency throughout our lands, seascapes, and riverscapes; and ensuring our lands and waters can be enjoyed by all.   
     That is why my Administration has delivered on the most ambitious land and water conservation agenda in American history — leading by the power of our example.  When I first came into office, I issued an Executive Order that established the United States’ first-ever conservation goal — aiming to protect at least 30 percent of our Nation’s lands and waters by 2030.  My America the Beautiful initiative has advanced that work by supporting voluntary, locally led conservation and restoration.  These efforts have not only helped local communities, Tribes, farmers, ranchers, foresters, and fishers to address the climate crisis and protect lands and waters.  They have also created jobs, strengthened the economy, and expanded access to the outdoors across our country.  I also signed an Executive Order to safeguard and steward our Nation’s forests and make our ecosystems more resilient in the fight against climate change.  And we launched the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge to protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of our Nation’s rivers and streams to safeguard clean water for all.  
     I am also proud that my Administration made the largest investment in history to confront the climate crisis through my Inflation Reduction Act and has conserved more than 45 million acres of our Nation’s lands and waters.  We have established, expanded, and restored 11 national monuments and protected the United States Arctic Ocean from new oil and gas leasing.  And together with my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have invested in restoration and conservation, including $50 billion to strengthen community and ecosystem resilience to climate change.  Further, I launched the American Climate Corps to mobilize a new, diverse generation of Americans in conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy, and advancing environmental justice — all while creating good jobs.  
     Around the world, my Administration has made extraordinary progress in advancing conservation.  We moved to rejoin the Paris Agreement on day one of my Administration, and we put our country in a position to cut emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.  In 2021, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, we released the Plan to Conserve Global Forests — a first-of-its-kind national strategy to preserve global ecosystems that serve as vital carbon sinks.  We also joined other nations in pledging to end deforestation by 2030, backed by the biggest ever commitment of public funds for forest conservation and a plan to make 75 percent of forest commodity supply chains sustainable.  In 2022, we helped rally countries around the world to commit to conserve at least 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030, mirroring the goal we had set at home.  We also joined other countries at the United Nations to sign the High Seas Treaty, committing to working together to establish marine protected areas on the high seas — a critical step to conserve ocean biodiversity and reach the global community’s goal to conserve or protect at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. 
     My Administration has also delivered record climate financing to support developing countries’ efforts to preserve and protect these vital ecosystems that serve as critical carbon sinks, accelerate the clean energy transition, and bolster their resilience to climate change.  In 2021, I pledged that our Nation would deliver $11 billion per year in climate financing by 2024.  I am proud that we not only kept that promise, but surpassed it.  This includes fulfilling my pledge to invest over $3 billion per year to help vulnerable countries around the world mitigate and adapt to climate change as part of my Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience.  I am also proud that — with our recent $50 million investment — my Administration has provided over $100 million to the Amazon Fund.  At the same time, our Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has helped mobilize over $1 billion in investment to support the restoration of degraded lands in Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile, helping create a market that values keeping this vital ecosystem alive and thriving.  
     There is still so much to do to ensure that we protect our world’s most precious ecosystems and natural treasures.  That is why the DFC is investing in one of the largest reforestation projects in the world, beginning with the Brazilian Amazon.  I am proud that my Administration is working with over a dozen international partners to launch the Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition to mobilize at least $10 billion for land restoration and bioeconomy-related projects by 2030.  And I am proud to support President Lula of Brazil’s bold vision of creating the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, a path-breaking new initiative that would incentivize countries to protect their tropical forests while supporting the local and Indigenous communities stewarding these forests and ensuring these vital ecosystems continue to thrive.  
     It has been said that the Amazon rainforest is the lungs of the world.  Forests like these, that stretch across the Americas, Africa, and Asia — including the Amazon, Tongass, Congo, and Sundaland — represent our heart and soul.  Now more than ever, we must recommit to the urgent work of addressing climate change — together, we can ensure that these treasures will be enjoyed for generations to come.  
     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 17, 2024, as International Conservation Day.  
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

                        JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on International Conservation Day, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

Lima, Peru

MR. SULLIVAN:  (In progress) — which will go into some detail on various issues that they covered.

And so, I’m going to be brief in my opening comments, because you all can read that scintillating Word document. 

You know, this was an opportunity for them to take stock of their relationship after four years of President Biden stewarding it along with President Xi Jinping.  And President Biden reflected on the fact that he has worked hard to responsibly manage the competition so that it doesn’t veer into conflict and so that he maintains space also for the U.S. and China to work together on matters of mutual interest.

He reflected on the fact that keeping open lines of communication is vital to the responsible management of this relationship, and that includes the leader-to-leader communication that has really anchored the relationship over the last four years, but also communication at all levels. 

And he really emphasized the importance of sustaining military-to-military communication through this transition period and beyond, because that is how we will most effectively avert any potential mistake and miscalculation of crisis.

He spoke about areas where we actually have made progress, where our interests align, from counternarcotics to climate, AI.  The two leaders took an important step forward today with respect to AI safety and risk.  They agreed, and it will be reflected in the readout, on the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons, which is the first time the U.S. and the PRC has made this statement.  It’s an important statement about the intersection of artificial intelligence and nuclear doctrine, and it is a reflection of how, even with competition between the U.S. and the PRC, we can work on a responsible basis to manage risk in vital areas.

The two leaders, of course, also spoke about areas of difference and areas of friction in the relationship, including U.S. concerns over the PRC’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base.  And in this context, President Biden reiterated his grave concern over the fact that the DPRK has deployed a significant number of troops to western Russia to participate in the battle against Ukraine, in the war against Ukraine. 

President Biden also spoke to President Xi about cross-Strait issues and the U.S.’s commitment to sustain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.  They had the chance to go back and forth on that. 

They talked about economics and national security.  They talked about the respective concerns of both sides about the policies of the other.  But President Biden really reiterated his concern about unfair non-market economic practices that are harming American workers and businesses. 

They also covered the South China Sea, and President Biden reiterated his view that international law must be respected, along with freedom of navigation and lawful, unimpeded commerce in the South China Sea.

They touched on a number of other issues as well.  I would just sum up the meeting by saying that it was — like all of these meetings are, it was candid, it was constructive, it was wide ranging.  There was a give and take, a back and forth. 

The two leaders set aside the notes, particularly in the closing section of the meeting, for them to each be able to reflect upon the fact that they’ve known each other for quite a long time now, that they have worked together closely, that they obviously haven’t always seen eye to eye but they’ve always been straight with one another, and that they both remain committed to try to responsibly manage this relationship during this last critical transition period and, of course, over the course of the past more than 10 years that the two leaders have been dealing with each other, both as vice president and now as president. 

So, with that, I’d be happy to take your questions.

Q    Can you talk about how the President addressed North Korea’s support for Russia and the invasion of Ukraine when it came to this meeting? 

Secondly, also, China has expressed opposition to turning the Kenyan-led mission in Haiti to a U.N. peacekeeping mission.  Does the U.S. have more confidence now that they could have China’s support for a U.N.-led peacekeeping mission?

MR. SULLIVAN:  President Biden pointed out that the PRC’s publicly stated position with respect to the war in Ukraine is there should be no escalation or no broadening of the conflict, and the introduction of DPRK troops runs fourscore against that. 

And he also pointed out that the PRC does have influence and capacity and should use it to try to prevent a further escalation or further expansion of the conflict through the introduction of even more DPRK forces. 

You know, one of the points the President really registered was: Countries around the world look to the United States when the U.S. has influence, whether it’s in Asia or Europe.  And similarly, countries look to the PRC as well.  So, it’s not a sufficient answer to simply say, “Well, that’s up to these other countries.  There’s nothing we can really do about it.” 

So that is the nature of the back and forth on that.  And President Biden really underscored his view that this is a deeply dangerous development, both in the European view, the introduction of a foreign army, and on the Korean Peninsula, with deepening cooperation between Russia and the DPRK likely to enhance the possibility of provocative behavior by the DPRK, provocative behavior that we have warned about, whether it comes in the form of direct provocations against the ROK, or whether it comes in the form of something like further missile tests or even a seventh nuclear test, which is something that we remain constantly vigilant about. 

The President did touch upon Haiti in his remarks.  The PRC did not indicate a change of position on that topic in today’s meeting.  We remain convinced that for stability in Haiti, which matters to a lot of innocent people, that the U.N. needs to step up with a peacekeeping mission, the transition of this multinational security support force into a peacekeeping mission.  We’re going to keep working until we secure consensus of the Security Council (inaudible). 

Q    There was a reference that Chinese leader Xi Jinping made (inaudible) small yard, high fences, alluding to the export controls.  Can you talk a little bit more about his concerns about export controls and the degree to which that came up?

MR. SULLIVAN:  President Xi himself in his opening remarks, and the PRC at all levels, has not been shy, both publicly and privately, about raising their objections for U.S. export controls, particularly when it comes to advanced semiconductors and advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment.  Equally, we have not been shy about saying that for very high semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment with national security applications, we are going to restrict that so that it is not used against us or our allies.  And we’ve made no bones about that, and President Biden made no bones about it again today.

We have equally said that this is not a broad-based decoupling of our economic or technology trade with China.  It is high-end, high-level capabilities, a very small fraction of the overall trade that we have with China, and it is squarely focused on the national security concerns we have about these particular forms of both semiconductors and manufacturing equipment. 

So, there was nothing surprising about President Xi raising his concerns about that.  Equally, there was nothing surprising about President Biden reinforcing the rationale for why we have pursued a small yard, high fence policy, a policy we believe that has protected America’s national security and enhanced our innovation edge, and we will continue to support that until the end of this term, and we will continue to advocate to the next team that they carry forward with this policy.

Q    Can you talk a little bit more about the AI nuclear agreement and how imminent of a threat does this impose?  And, kind of, can you put a little more meat on the bone on what that agreement is going to look like?

MR. SULLIVAN:  The way that I would put this is you need to start somewhere, basic principles, and build from there when it comes to trying to develop a common basis for reducing nuclear risk.  And a good place to start is with the straightforward proposition that there should be human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons.

But the fact that the U.S. and the PRC have done this — and, you know, it will be stated as an agreement in our readout today — indicates that we are now building a foundation for being able to work on nuclear risk reduction together, the U.S. and the PRC, and work on AI safety and risk together, which is something that President Biden and President Xi agreed to do out of the Woodside Summit last year. 

I’m not saying someone was imminently going to hand over the control of nuclear weapons to artificial intelligence, so I’m not — I think your question was about whether there’s an imminent risk.  I don’t believe there is an imminent risk of that.  But there is a long-term strategic risk of two significant nuclear powers and two countries with significant AI capability not being able to reach a meeting of the minds on basically anything in those spaces, and that is a risk we are trying to address.  Today is a step in that direction. 

Q    Jake, so just hours before their meeting, President Xi presented himself as a defender of multilateralism and (inaudible).  Obviously, China is a member RCEP.  The U.S. (inaudible) about TPP — we’re not joining TPP, and (inaudible) leaders are concerned about a future U.S. administration that’s more protectionist and isolationist, particularly the fact that President-elect Trump has threatened more power, not just from China but also the rest of the world.  Can you share your response?

MR. SULLIVAN:  Look, I’m not going to comment on a future administration’s policies that have neither been formulated nor articulated.  So, I’m not going to speculate about that. 

What I will say is that we have laid out in clear terms our concerns about non-market economic practices that the PRC has undertaken that don’t just harm American workers, but actually undermine an open Internet and fair and level playing field in the international economic order.  And it’s not just the United States that has raised those concerns.  Countries on multiple continents have begun to take countermeasures against what they perceive to be PRC overcapacity in critical sectors. 

So, we believe that we have been able to build the case effectively over time that some of the approaches that China has taken in this area are harmful to the cause of a level playing field, not helpful to the cause of a level playing field.  And we’ve tried to protect ourselves through targeted tariffs, and we’ve worked with other countries who have taken similar measures, similar steps, and not just traditional allies of the United States, but multiple countries around the world. 

So, I think the world will be able to judge for itself both the PRC’s approach to trade and the U.S.’s approach to trade over time.  What I can say is that we have been clear about both the steps we have taken and also clear about our concerns about PRC overcapacity and what it could do to distort the global economy in ways that are unhealthy.  And that was part of the conversation that the two leaders had today. 

Q    Jake, obviously both of the leaders (inaudible) public statements made reference to this moment of transition for the United States.  I’m wondering if you can characterize how much you have said privately to leaders about this.  Is there a moment, for instance, for the President to warn the Chinese about not seeking to take advantage of this moment of transition?

And I’m also wondering when President Biden met with President-elect Trump, was there an opportunity for him to convey a message (inaudible) to President Xi privately?  Did President Xi ask President Biden to convey a message to President Trump?

MR. SULLIVAN:  To your last question, the answer is no.  President Biden was not a conduit for messages going in either direction.  President Biden noted the obvious facts that there will be a new administration on January 20th, and he did reinforce the point that these next two months are a time of transition in the United States and a time where stability in the U.S.-China relationship is essential.  And he reinforced that with respect to the geopolitical backdrop — cross-Strait relations, South China Sea, et cetera — and with respect to the economic backdrop.  So that was a feature of the conversation in terms of what President Biden laid out.

I’m not going to characterize what President Xi had to say.  I’ll leave that to the Chinese side to do.  But what I would say from President Biden’s perspective: He wasn’t projecting ahead to what was going to happen after January 20th.  He was really focused on the fact that there is a transition unfolding, that President Biden is determined for that transition to be smooth and for him to pass the relationship off, and he would like to pass it off on stable terms to the new administration, and reinforce the point that the two leaders have an obligation to direct their (inaudible) to make that happen.

Q    Jake, I’m wondering if you can — if there was any discussion about the wrongfully detained Americans in China.  I know (inaudible) progress on that front.

MR. SULLIVAN:  So, we’ve made important progress on that with the release of David Lin.  They discussed the issue today.  I will not go further than that. 

I don’t have any announcements to make, but they had an important discussion on the subject today, and we’ll continue working every day until our very last to try to secure the release of the unjustly detained Americans being held in China. 

Q    On the PRC’s support for Russia’s war machine, one of your colleagues told us in advance of this trip that it’s probably not going to stop and will be a task also for the new administration.  Does that mean (inaudible) sanctions that you were looking at are off the table now for the next two months?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I do not have any announcements with respect to further sanctions today.  No announcements of new sanctions and no categorical statements of taking things off the table.

Q    Kind of back to the AI nuclear (inaudible) in September or August, October, China refused to sign on to the deal that came out of Seoul that said no AI use in nuclear launches.  So if that (inaudible) right, has Beijing’s stance changed, and how did it get there?

And you used the specific phrase, “further work on nuclear risk reduction.”  Is that a reference to arms control (inaudible)?

MR. SULLIVAN:  Arms control speaks to how many weapons do you have and where they deploy.  Nuclear risk reduction is the whole family of practices around trying to avoid mistake and miscalculation.  And, by the way, I’m not projecting that there will be further steps.  What I’m suggesting is that responsible nuclear powers have an obligation to work towards further steps.  Whether the PRC chooses to do that or not will be up to them.  But this is an important step both on AI safety and on nuclear risk reduction. 

And I can’t speak to their decision-making.  You’d have to go to them on it.  What I will say is we think we’ve generated something meaningful today.  It is not the end of the line, but it’s the start of something that we hope can be carried forward.

Q    So, you obviously negotiated this ahead of time.  Has their position moved, and has the negotiation (inaudible)?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I guess the way that I would put it is: We did not have this agreement at Woodside.  We had this agreement today.  And I’ll leave it to you to fill in the gaps. 

Q    So, the President just met with Prime Minister Ishiba yesterday.  At the same time, Prime Minister Ishiba was trying to meet next President Trump after G20, but it’s not going to happen because Trump said no.  Do you feel like Prime Minister Ishiba —

MR. SULLIVAN:  Wait, I’m sorry, I’m not sure I understand.  You say he’s —

Q    Prime Minister Ishiba was trying to meet President Trump — next President Trump after G20.

MR. SULLIVAN:  Oh, after.  I thought you said at the G20.  After the G20.

Q    But Trump said no.  Do you feel like Prime Minister Ishiba was (inaudible) something behind the back?  Because President Biden is the president.  What do you feel came of that?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I do not feel that the Prime Minister seeking to engage with the President-elect is doing anything behind the back of President Biden.  I don’t.  I think we have seen multiple leaders make telephone calls to the President-elect, just like in 2020 multiple leaders called President-elect Biden when he was elected.  That’s pretty typical diplomatic practice. 

So, as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing untoward about that.  And President Biden and the Prime Minister had a very good discussion.  Yesterday was their first in-person meeting, and we feel very good about the state of the relationship, state of the alliance, and the state of the personal dynamic between the two leaders. 

Q    Jake, you mentioned that at the end of meeting that they put notes aside and had some exchange.  Can you describe a little bit more about that exchange?  Was that a farewell message between the two of them?  Or what did they talk about there?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I won’t share too much because, you know, it was between the two of them.  And it was a reflection on having spent a lot of time together over the course of a decade, in pretty high-pressure situations managing a relationship of very high consequence.

I would just say one point the President made was to reinforce something he said publicly quite a bit, which is that what has made the relationship between the two of them function effectively is that they’re able to be very straight with one another, even when they disagree.  And that level of candor, directness, even bluntness at times, has been critical in helping see us through some choppy waters at times, and has been critical in helping us build the foundation to effectively and responsibly manage the competition. 

So it was in the nature of that kind of reflection that President Biden offered.  And I make it a habit not to share what President Xi says in response to that, but they had a bit of a back and forth along those lines, you know, that was quite descriptive, I guess. 

Q    Jake, do you guys have any assurances on — you know, obviously, you have two months left.  I mean, even the agreement on AI, like, do you have any assurances or confidence that Trump is going to implement that or any other things that were discussed today?

MR. SULLIVAN:  No, obviously not.  I mean, we don’t — the incoming administration is not in the business of providing us assurances about anything, and they’ll make their own decisions as they go forward.  But this is a feature of every transition throughout all of time, which is: It’s our job to do all that we can to set the new administration up as effectively as possible, and then they will decide how they’ll take things forward. 

I think there’s a lot that we’re doing, both with respect to the U.S.-China relationship, but also with respect to our alliances, with respect to other partners here at APEC and the G20 that will be carried forward in the natural course of things.  Everything doesn’t get thrown out.  And so, can’t make predictions or speculate.  Certainly have gotten no assurances of any kind, but we’ll keep doing our work until January 20th. 

Q    Thanks, Jake.   Why did President Biden go to President Xi’s hotel for this meeting?  (Inaudible.)

MR. SULLIVAN:  Because in the quite scientific execution of U.S.-China presidential meetings, we do this thing called “my turn, your turn.”  (Laughter.)  And the last meeting the two of them had was at Woodside, in America, where Xi came not just to President Biden’s venue, but to his country.  So it was his turn; therefore, we go to his hotel.  And the time before was Bali; the President went, et cetera.  So it’s highly sophisticated statecraft — (laughter) — that I know is hard, really, to get your head around, but it’s, basically, we go back and forth in terms of who hosts.

Q    President Biden (inaudible) hotel (inaudible)?

MR. SULLIVAN:  President Xi was the host of the meeting.  So, they chose the hotel.  It was his —

Q    In Bali?

MR. SULLIVAN:  In Bali.  He was the host, yeah.  And then President Biden was the host at Woodside, and now President Xi was the host.

Q    On that note, do you think President Trump should go to the 2026 APEC Summit in Beijing?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I have no advice for the president-elect with respect to travel taking place nearly two years from now.

Q    Jake, from what we saw in the opening remarks, what was notable (inaudible) was a little bit of the tone from President Xi to make a wise choice — “make the wise choice.”  It was one of those messages that had been (inaudible).

I think a lot of us are making the analysis that he’s warning that we’re headed towards another valley in the U.S.-China relationship.  Is that a fair analysis to make?  And how do we avoid a valley when we’re talking about 60 percent tariffs?

MR. SULLIVAN:  Look, I would have to go back and look at PRC public comments, including the President’s public comments, with formulas like that.  But he — the Chinese side makes those forms of public warnings to American officials regardless of political stripe and regardless of administration.  Now, it may take on a different meaning or valence because of the moment we’re in.  And I’m not obviously blind or deaf to that.  But I’m answering the question the way I am because I can’t, obviously, put myself in the head of President Xi, what he was intending, the extent to which it was meant in the spirit that you just described.

I would just say that, broadly speaking, the message of “choose wisely, not wrongly” is a pretty standard, fair PRC statement that they’ve made repeatedly over the course of these past four years, the four years before that, and so on.  And that’s especially been true where the relationship has taken on a more competitive dynamic. 

Look, I’m not going to speculate about 60 percent tariffs, because, as I said before, the administration has neither formulated nor articulated its policy.  So I’d be getting way ahead of you, me, and anyone else by speaking to that. 

Q    Could you characterize the overall atmosphere of the meeting?  Because (inaudible), and you guys always described it (inaudible) but this is the last one.  So could you give us a little more —

MR. SULLIVAN:  I think it was similar to the last two, because this — you know, in the end, they had the chance for a more personal reflection, but they conducted a lot of business in areas both where we are making some progress and in areas where there are profound differences between the U.S. and the PRC.  And the two sides did not shy away from the more direct and difficult conversations where the two sides don’t agree. 

So I don’t think the atmosphere was markedly different from the atmosphere at either Woodside or Bali.

Yeah, last question.

Q    I’m just wondering if President Biden and President Xi have (inaudible) relationship after the past (inaudible), and how was it effective in the Biden diplomacy relationship with China?  And do you have any concerns that his personal relationship (inaudible)?

MR. SULLIVAN:  Those of you have interviewed me before and have asked me for anecdotes always find I come up wanting.  (Laughter.)  So, I’m terrible at examples and illustrations and stories.

What I will say is that leader-level engagement and direction is vital to the responsible management of the competition between the U.S. and China.  The tone gets set from the top.  The teams get their direction from the top.  And the execution of the day-to-day management of the relationship is derived from understandings reached between the leaders. 

And the fact that President Biden and President Xi have been able to establish a relationship of candor and directness on issues where they find a common way forward and on issues where they share deep disagreements, I think has been critical to us coming through a number of very difficult points in time in the relationship and, you know, achieving a measure of sustained, responsible management. 

Now, that doesn’t mean this is going to — this has been easy or everything is great.  We have difficulties.  We have challenges.  It is a highly competitive relationship.  It is a complex relationship.  But I think the personal dynamic has helped us manage it very effectively.  And I certainly feel that acutely as someone who’s trying to carry out President Biden’s direction working with my counterpart and with others on the Chinese side. 

So, now we got to keep going for the next two months, and then we’ll see what happens after that. 

Thank you, guys.

Q    (Inaudible) the two leaders?  (Inaudible.)

MR. SULLIVAN:  I think it was (inaudible).  (Laughter.)  No.  I don’t.  I don’t.  They had a moment together at the end, of the two shaking hands on the way out.  I (inaudible).

Q    Jake, do you have any other detail on the most recent Chinese hack and how that came up?

MR. SULLIVAN:  And more detail on it?

Q    Yeah.  Like what the conversation was.

MR. SULLIVAN:  So, the issue of the hack of American telecommunications providers did come up.  I’m not going to speak publicly about what was said privately.  And the President made very clear where the U.S. stands on it. 

And as we develop further information, we will absolutely be sharing it with you guys, as we just did most recently with the CISA-FBI statement, and you can expect more of those in the weeks ahead.

Thanks, everybody.

The post On-the-Record Press Gaggle by APNSA Jake Sullivan on President Biden’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping appeared first on The White House.

Lima, Peru

MR. SULLIVAN:  (In progress) — which will go into some detail on various issues that they covered.

And so, I’m going to be brief in my opening comments, because you all can read that scintillating Word document. 

You know, this was an opportunity for them to take stock of their relationship after four years of President Biden stewarding it along with President Xi Jinping.  And President Biden reflected on the fact that he has worked hard to responsibly manage the competition so that it doesn’t veer into conflict and so that he maintains space also for the U.S. and China to work together on matters of mutual interest.

He reflected on the fact that keeping open lines of communication is vital to the responsible management of this relationship, and that includes the leader-to-leader communication that has really anchored the relationship over the last four years, but also communication at all levels. 

And he really emphasized the importance of sustaining military-to-military communication through this transition period and beyond, because that is how we will most effectively avert any potential mistake and miscalculation of crisis.

He spoke about areas where we actually have made progress, where our interests align, from counternarcotics to climate, AI.  The two leaders took an important step forward today with respect to AI safety and risk.  They agreed, and it will be reflected in the readout, on the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons, which is the first time the U.S. and the PRC has made this statement.  It’s an important statement about the intersection of artificial intelligence and nuclear doctrine, and it is a reflection of how, even with competition between the U.S. and the PRC, we can work on a responsible basis to manage risk in vital areas.

The two leaders, of course, also spoke about areas of difference and areas of friction in the relationship, including U.S. concerns over the PRC’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base.  And in this context, President Biden reiterated his grave concern over the fact that the DPRK has deployed a significant number of troops to western Russia to participate in the battle against Ukraine, in the war against Ukraine. 

President Biden also spoke to President Xi about cross-Strait issues and the U.S.’s commitment to sustain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.  They had the chance to go back and forth on that. 

They talked about economics and national security.  They talked about the respective concerns of both sides about the policies of the other.  But President Biden really reiterated his concern about unfair non-market economic practices that are harming American workers and businesses. 

They also covered the South China Sea, and President Biden reiterated his view that international law must be respected, along with freedom of navigation and lawful, unimpeded commerce in the South China Sea.

They touched on a number of other issues as well.  I would just sum up the meeting by saying that it was — like all of these meetings are, it was candid, it was constructive, it was wide ranging.  There was a give and take, a back and forth. 

The two leaders set aside the notes, particularly in the closing section of the meeting, for them to each be able to reflect upon the fact that they’ve known each other for quite a long time now, that they have worked together closely, that they obviously haven’t always seen eye to eye but they’ve always been straight with one another, and that they both remain committed to try to responsibly manage this relationship during this last critical transition period and, of course, over the course of the past more than 10 years that the two leaders have been dealing with each other, both as vice president and now as president. 

So, with that, I’d be happy to take your questions.

Q    Can you talk about how the President addressed North Korea’s support for Russia and the invasion of Ukraine when it came to this meeting? 

Secondly, also, China has expressed opposition to turning the Kenyan-led mission in Haiti to a U.N. peacekeeping mission.  Does the U.S. have more confidence now that they could have China’s support for a U.N.-led peacekeeping mission?

MR. SULLIVAN:  President Biden pointed out that the PRC’s publicly stated position with respect to the war in Ukraine is there should be no escalation or no broadening of the conflict, and the introduction of DPRK troops runs fourscore against that. 

And he also pointed out that the PRC does have influence and capacity and should use it to try to prevent a further escalation or further expansion of the conflict through the introduction of even more DPRK forces. 

You know, one of the points the President really registered was: Countries around the world look to the United States when the U.S. has influence, whether it’s in Asia or Europe.  And similarly, countries look to the PRC as well.  So, it’s not a sufficient answer to simply say, “Well, that’s up to these other countries.  There’s nothing we can really do about it.” 

So that is the nature of the back and forth on that.  And President Biden really underscored his view that this is a deeply dangerous development, both in the European view, the introduction of a foreign army, and on the Korean Peninsula, with deepening cooperation between Russia and the DPRK likely to enhance the possibility of provocative behavior by the DPRK, provocative behavior that we have warned about, whether it comes in the form of direct provocations against the ROK, or whether it comes in the form of something like further missile tests or even a seventh nuclear test, which is something that we remain constantly vigilant about. 

The President did touch upon Haiti in his remarks.  The PRC did not indicate a change of position on that topic in today’s meeting.  We remain convinced that for stability in Haiti, which matters to a lot of innocent people, that the U.N. needs to step up with a peacekeeping mission, the transition of this multinational security support force into a peacekeeping mission.  We’re going to keep working until we secure consensus of the Security Council (inaudible). 

Q    There was a reference that Chinese leader Xi Jinping made (inaudible) small yard, high fences, alluding to the export controls.  Can you talk a little bit more about his concerns about export controls and the degree to which that came up?

MR. SULLIVAN:  President Xi himself in his opening remarks, and the PRC at all levels, has not been shy, both publicly and privately, about raising their objections for U.S. export controls, particularly when it comes to advanced semiconductors and advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment.  Equally, we have not been shy about saying that for very high semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment with national security applications, we are going to restrict that so that it is not used against us or our allies.  And we’ve made no bones about that, and President Biden made no bones about it again today.

We have equally said that this is not a broad-based decoupling of our economic or technology trade with China.  It is high-end, high-level capabilities, a very small fraction of the overall trade that we have with China, and it is squarely focused on the national security concerns we have about these particular forms of both semiconductors and manufacturing equipment. 

So, there was nothing surprising about President Xi raising his concerns about that.  Equally, there was nothing surprising about President Biden reinforcing the rationale for why we have pursued a small yard, high fence policy, a policy we believe that has protected America’s national security and enhanced our innovation edge, and we will continue to support that until the end of this term, and we will continue to advocate to the next team that they carry forward with this policy.

Q    Can you talk a little bit more about the AI nuclear agreement and how imminent of a threat does this impose?  And, kind of, can you put a little more meat on the bone on what that agreement is going to look like?

MR. SULLIVAN:  The way that I would put this is you need to start somewhere, basic principles, and build from there when it comes to trying to develop a common basis for reducing nuclear risk.  And a good place to start is with the straightforward proposition that there should be human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons.

But the fact that the U.S. and the PRC have done this — and, you know, it will be stated as an agreement in our readout today — indicates that we are now building a foundation for being able to work on nuclear risk reduction together, the U.S. and the PRC, and work on AI safety and risk together, which is something that President Biden and President Xi agreed to do out of the Woodside Summit last year. 

I’m not saying someone was imminently going to hand over the control of nuclear weapons to artificial intelligence, so I’m not — I think your question was about whether there’s an imminent risk.  I don’t believe there is an imminent risk of that.  But there is a long-term strategic risk of two significant nuclear powers and two countries with significant AI capability not being able to reach a meeting of the minds on basically anything in those spaces, and that is a risk we are trying to address.  Today is a step in that direction. 

Q    Jake, so just hours before their meeting, President Xi presented himself as a defender of multilateralism and (inaudible).  Obviously, China is a member RCEP.  The U.S. (inaudible) about TPP — we’re not joining TPP, and (inaudible) leaders are concerned about a future U.S. administration that’s more protectionist and isolationist, particularly the fact that President-elect Trump has threatened more power, not just from China but also the rest of the world.  Can you share your response?

MR. SULLIVAN:  Look, I’m not going to comment on a future administration’s policies that have neither been formulated nor articulated.  So, I’m not going to speculate about that. 

What I will say is that we have laid out in clear terms our concerns about non-market economic practices that the PRC has undertaken that don’t just harm American workers, but actually undermine an open Internet and fair and level playing field in the international economic order.  And it’s not just the United States that has raised those concerns.  Countries on multiple continents have begun to take countermeasures against what they perceive to be PRC overcapacity in critical sectors. 

So, we believe that we have been able to build the case effectively over time that some of the approaches that China has taken in this area are harmful to the cause of a level playing field, not helpful to the cause of a level playing field.  And we’ve tried to protect ourselves through targeted tariffs, and we’ve worked with other countries who have taken similar measures, similar steps, and not just traditional allies of the United States, but multiple countries around the world. 

So, I think the world will be able to judge for itself both the PRC’s approach to trade and the U.S.’s approach to trade over time.  What I can say is that we have been clear about both the steps we have taken and also clear about our concerns about PRC overcapacity and what it could do to distort the global economy in ways that are unhealthy.  And that was part of the conversation that the two leaders had today. 

Q    Jake, obviously both of the leaders (inaudible) public statements made reference to this moment of transition for the United States.  I’m wondering if you can characterize how much you have said privately to leaders about this.  Is there a moment, for instance, for the President to warn the Chinese about not seeking to take advantage of this moment of transition?

And I’m also wondering when President Biden met with President-elect Trump, was there an opportunity for him to convey a message (inaudible) to President Xi privately?  Did President Xi ask President Biden to convey a message to President Trump?

MR. SULLIVAN:  To your last question, the answer is no.  President Biden was not a conduit for messages going in either direction.  President Biden noted the obvious facts that there will be a new administration on January 20th, and he did reinforce the point that these next two months are a time of transition in the United States and a time where stability in the U.S.-China relationship is essential.  And he reinforced that with respect to the geopolitical backdrop — cross-Strait relations, South China Sea, et cetera — and with respect to the economic backdrop.  So that was a feature of the conversation in terms of what President Biden laid out.

I’m not going to characterize what President Xi had to say.  I’ll leave that to the Chinese side to do.  But what I would say from President Biden’s perspective: He wasn’t projecting ahead to what was going to happen after January 20th.  He was really focused on the fact that there is a transition unfolding, that President Biden is determined for that transition to be smooth and for him to pass the relationship off, and he would like to pass it off on stable terms to the new administration, and reinforce the point that the two leaders have an obligation to direct their (inaudible) to make that happen.

Q    Jake, I’m wondering if you can — if there was any discussion about the wrongfully detained Americans in China.  I know (inaudible) progress on that front.

MR. SULLIVAN:  So, we’ve made important progress on that with the release of David Lin.  They discussed the issue today.  I will not go further than that. 

I don’t have any announcements to make, but they had an important discussion on the subject today, and we’ll continue working every day until our very last to try to secure the release of the unjustly detained Americans being held in China. 

Q    On the PRC’s support for Russia’s war machine, one of your colleagues told us in advance of this trip that it’s probably not going to stop and will be a task also for the new administration.  Does that mean (inaudible) sanctions that you were looking at are off the table now for the next two months?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I do not have any announcements with respect to further sanctions today.  No announcements of new sanctions and no categorical statements of taking things off the table.

Q    Kind of back to the AI nuclear (inaudible) in September or August, October, China refused to sign on to the deal that came out of Seoul that said no AI use in nuclear launches.  So if that (inaudible) right, has Beijing’s stance changed, and how did it get there?

And you used the specific phrase, “further work on nuclear risk reduction.”  Is that a reference to arms control (inaudible)?

MR. SULLIVAN:  Arms control speaks to how many weapons do you have and where they deploy.  Nuclear risk reduction is the whole family of practices around trying to avoid mistake and miscalculation.  And, by the way, I’m not projecting that there will be further steps.  What I’m suggesting is that responsible nuclear powers have an obligation to work towards further steps.  Whether the PRC chooses to do that or not will be up to them.  But this is an important step both on AI safety and on nuclear risk reduction. 

And I can’t speak to their decision-making.  You’d have to go to them on it.  What I will say is we think we’ve generated something meaningful today.  It is not the end of the line, but it’s the start of something that we hope can be carried forward.

Q    So, you obviously negotiated this ahead of time.  Has their position moved, and has the negotiation (inaudible)?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I guess the way that I would put it is: We did not have this agreement at Woodside.  We had this agreement today.  And I’ll leave it to you to fill in the gaps. 

Q    So, the President just met with Prime Minister Ishiba yesterday.  At the same time, Prime Minister Ishiba was trying to meet next President Trump after G20, but it’s not going to happen because Trump said no.  Do you feel like Prime Minister Ishiba —

MR. SULLIVAN:  Wait, I’m sorry, I’m not sure I understand.  You say he’s —

Q    Prime Minister Ishiba was trying to meet President Trump — next President Trump after G20.

MR. SULLIVAN:  Oh, after.  I thought you said at the G20.  After the G20.

Q    But Trump said no.  Do you feel like Prime Minister Ishiba was (inaudible) something behind the back?  Because President Biden is the president.  What do you feel came of that?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I do not feel that the Prime Minister seeking to engage with the President-elect is doing anything behind the back of President Biden.  I don’t.  I think we have seen multiple leaders make telephone calls to the President-elect, just like in 2020 multiple leaders called President-elect Biden when he was elected.  That’s pretty typical diplomatic practice. 

So, as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing untoward about that.  And President Biden and the Prime Minister had a very good discussion.  Yesterday was their first in-person meeting, and we feel very good about the state of the relationship, state of the alliance, and the state of the personal dynamic between the two leaders. 

Q    Jake, you mentioned that at the end of meeting that they put notes aside and had some exchange.  Can you describe a little bit more about that exchange?  Was that a farewell message between the two of them?  Or what did they talk about there?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I won’t share too much because, you know, it was between the two of them.  And it was a reflection on having spent a lot of time together over the course of a decade, in pretty high-pressure situations managing a relationship of very high consequence.

I would just say one point the President made was to reinforce something he said publicly quite a bit, which is that what has made the relationship between the two of them function effectively is that they’re able to be very straight with one another, even when they disagree.  And that level of candor, directness, even bluntness at times, has been critical in helping see us through some choppy waters at times, and has been critical in helping us build the foundation to effectively and responsibly manage the competition. 

So it was in the nature of that kind of reflection that President Biden offered.  And I make it a habit not to share what President Xi says in response to that, but they had a bit of a back and forth along those lines, you know, that was quite descriptive, I guess. 

Q    Jake, do you guys have any assurances on — you know, obviously, you have two months left.  I mean, even the agreement on AI, like, do you have any assurances or confidence that Trump is going to implement that or any other things that were discussed today?

MR. SULLIVAN:  No, obviously not.  I mean, we don’t — the incoming administration is not in the business of providing us assurances about anything, and they’ll make their own decisions as they go forward.  But this is a feature of every transition throughout all of time, which is: It’s our job to do all that we can to set the new administration up as effectively as possible, and then they will decide how they’ll take things forward. 

I think there’s a lot that we’re doing, both with respect to the U.S.-China relationship, but also with respect to our alliances, with respect to other partners here at APEC and the G20 that will be carried forward in the natural course of things.  Everything doesn’t get thrown out.  And so, can’t make predictions or speculate.  Certainly have gotten no assurances of any kind, but we’ll keep doing our work until January 20th. 

Q    Thanks, Jake.   Why did President Biden go to President Xi’s hotel for this meeting?  (Inaudible.)

MR. SULLIVAN:  Because in the quite scientific execution of U.S.-China presidential meetings, we do this thing called “my turn, your turn.”  (Laughter.)  And the last meeting the two of them had was at Woodside, in America, where Xi came not just to President Biden’s venue, but to his country.  So it was his turn; therefore, we go to his hotel.  And the time before was Bali; the President went, et cetera.  So it’s highly sophisticated statecraft — (laughter) — that I know is hard, really, to get your head around, but it’s, basically, we go back and forth in terms of who hosts.

Q    President Biden (inaudible) hotel (inaudible)?

MR. SULLIVAN:  President Xi was the host of the meeting.  So, they chose the hotel.  It was his —

Q    In Bali?

MR. SULLIVAN:  In Bali.  He was the host, yeah.  And then President Biden was the host at Woodside, and now President Xi was the host.

Q    On that note, do you think President Trump should go to the 2026 APEC Summit in Beijing?

MR. SULLIVAN:  I have no advice for the president-elect with respect to travel taking place nearly two years from now.

Q    Jake, from what we saw in the opening remarks, what was notable (inaudible) was a little bit of the tone from President Xi to make a wise choice — “make the wise choice.”  It was one of those messages that had been (inaudible).

I think a lot of us are making the analysis that he’s warning that we’re headed towards another valley in the U.S.-China relationship.  Is that a fair analysis to make?  And how do we avoid a valley when we’re talking about 60 percent tariffs?

MR. SULLIVAN:  Look, I would have to go back and look at PRC public comments, including the President’s public comments, with formulas like that.  But he — the Chinese side makes those forms of public warnings to American officials regardless of political stripe and regardless of administration.  Now, it may take on a different meaning or valence because of the moment we’re in.  And I’m not obviously blind or deaf to that.  But I’m answering the question the way I am because I can’t, obviously, put myself in the head of President Xi, what he was intending, the extent to which it was meant in the spirit that you just described.

I would just say that, broadly speaking, the message of “choose wisely, not wrongly” is a pretty standard, fair PRC statement that they’ve made repeatedly over the course of these past four years, the four years before that, and so on.  And that’s especially been true where the relationship has taken on a more competitive dynamic. 

Look, I’m not going to speculate about 60 percent tariffs, because, as I said before, the administration has neither formulated nor articulated its policy.  So I’d be getting way ahead of you, me, and anyone else by speaking to that. 

Q    Could you characterize the overall atmosphere of the meeting?  Because (inaudible), and you guys always described it (inaudible) but this is the last one.  So could you give us a little more —

MR. SULLIVAN:  I think it was similar to the last two, because this — you know, in the end, they had the chance for a more personal reflection, but they conducted a lot of business in areas both where we are making some progress and in areas where there are profound differences between the U.S. and the PRC.  And the two sides did not shy away from the more direct and difficult conversations where the two sides don’t agree. 

So I don’t think the atmosphere was markedly different from the atmosphere at either Woodside or Bali.

Yeah, last question.

Q    I’m just wondering if President Biden and President Xi have (inaudible) relationship after the past (inaudible), and how was it effective in the Biden diplomacy relationship with China?  And do you have any concerns that his personal relationship (inaudible)?

MR. SULLIVAN:  Those of you have interviewed me before and have asked me for anecdotes always find I come up wanting.  (Laughter.)  So, I’m terrible at examples and illustrations and stories.

What I will say is that leader-level engagement and direction is vital to the responsible management of the competition between the U.S. and China.  The tone gets set from the top.  The teams get their direction from the top.  And the execution of the day-to-day management of the relationship is derived from understandings reached between the leaders. 

And the fact that President Biden and President Xi have been able to establish a relationship of candor and directness on issues where they find a common way forward and on issues where they share deep disagreements, I think has been critical to us coming through a number of very difficult points in time in the relationship and, you know, achieving a measure of sustained, responsible management. 

Now, that doesn’t mean this is going to — this has been easy or everything is great.  We have difficulties.  We have challenges.  It is a highly competitive relationship.  It is a complex relationship.  But I think the personal dynamic has helped us manage it very effectively.  And I certainly feel that acutely as someone who’s trying to carry out President Biden’s direction working with my counterpart and with others on the Chinese side. 

So, now we got to keep going for the next two months, and then we’ll see what happens after that. 

Thank you, guys.

Q    (Inaudible) the two leaders?  (Inaudible.)

MR. SULLIVAN:  I think it was (inaudible).  (Laughter.)  No.  I don’t.  I don’t.  They had a moment together at the end, of the two shaking hands on the way out.  I (inaudible).

Q    Jake, do you have any other detail on the most recent Chinese hack and how that came up?

MR. SULLIVAN:  And more detail on it?

Q    Yeah.  Like what the conversation was.

MR. SULLIVAN:  So, the issue of the hack of American telecommunications providers did come up.  I’m not going to speak publicly about what was said privately.  And the President made very clear where the U.S. stands on it. 

And as we develop further information, we will absolutely be sharing it with you guys, as we just did most recently with the CISA-FBI statement, and you can expect more of those in the weeks ahead.

Thanks, everybody.

The post On-the-Record Press Gaggle by APNSA Jake Sullivan on President Biden’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping appeared first on The White House.

President Biden Announces U.S. has surpassed his goal of providing $11 billion per year in international climate financing

President Biden to sign a proclamation designating International Conservation Day; becomes first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon

Since Day One of the Biden-Harris Administration, the fight against climate change has been a defining cause of President Biden’s leadership and presidency. These past four years, the Administration has created a bold new playbook that has turned tackling the climate crisis into an enormous economic opportunity – both at home and abroad. After spearheading the most significant domestic climate and conservation action in history and leading global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, today President Biden is traveling to Manaus, Brazil, where he will meet with Indigenous and other leaders and become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest.

The President has leveraged our Nation’s leadership on domestic climate and conservation action to help accelerate global efforts to combat and reverse deforestation and deploy nature-based solutions that reduce emissions, enhance biodiversity, and build resilience to a changing climate. As part of advancing this ambitious climate and conservation agenda, the Administration is investing in Amazon conservation efforts, sustainable land management, and wildfire prevention, while also strengthening our Nation’s collaboration with Brazil, support for Indigenous communities, and efforts to combat illegal deforestation in the Amazon and around the world.

Today, as part of his historic trip to the Amazon, President Biden will announce that the United States has fulfilled his historic pledge to increase U.S. international climate finance to over $11 billion a year by 2024 – making the United States the largest bilateral provider of climate finance in the world.  This represents a more than six-fold increase from the $1.5 billion in climate finance the U.S. provided in FY21, underscoring the success of President Biden’s whole-of-government effort to scaling-up U.S. climate finance over the last four years.  This also includes achieving for the second year in a row his pledge to scale-up U.S. adaptation finance six-fold to over $3 billion per year to help vulnerable countries around the world build resilience to the impacts of climate change, as part of implementing the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE).  This also included achieving record-levels of climate investments through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and U.S. Export Import Bank (EXIM) – with DFC reaching $3.71 billion in FY24 and EXIM increasing its investments to a record $1.6 billion in FY24.

President Biden will also sign a U.S. proclamation designating November 17th as International Conservation Day. The proclamation recognizes that conservation is critical to protecting the livelihoods of the people who depend on our world’s natural wonders, conserving our ecosystems and wildlife, ensuring our lands and waters can be enjoyed for generations to come, and helping avoid the worst impacts of climate change.  

Central to today’s trip is President Biden’s commitment to conserving our forests and combatting global deforestation. Over the past four years, the Administration has led efforts to conserve more than 45 million acres of lands and waters; safeguard mature and old-growth forests on Federal lands here at home; strengthen reforestation partnerships across the country to support local economies; combat global deforestation; and deploy nature-based solutions that reduce emissions, enhance biodiversity, and build resilience in the face of increasing climate threats.  Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new efforts to accelerate global action to conserve lands and waters, protect biodiversity, and tackle the climate crisis, including:

• Announcing $50 Million for the Amazon Fund. The United States is announcing $50 million for the Amazon Fund, which will bring U.S. total contributions to the Amazon Fund to $100 million, subject to Congressional notification.

• Launching the Brazil Restoration & Bioeconomy Finance Coalition. The United States, BTG Pactual, and over 12 partners are announcing the launch of the Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition.  This Coalition intends to mobilize at least $10 billion in public and private investment for land restoration and bioeconomy-related projects by 2030, supporting the conservation and restoration of at least 5.5 million hectares during this period, and contributing to 1.5 gigatons of emissions reductions and removals through 2050. At least $500 million is expected to be invested in projects that support Indigenous peoples and local communities in the Brazilian Amazon.

• Announcing a New DFC Investment in the Largest Reforestation Projects in the Amazon. DFC is providing a $37.5 million loan to Mombak Gestora de Recursos Ltda., to support the large-scale planting of native tree species on degraded grasslands in Brazil, which will sequester carbon and enable biodiversity conservation. Mombak has designed an innovative and large-scale approach to generating high-quality “Verified Emission Reduction (VER)” credits by acquiring large tracts of degraded grassland in the Brazilian state of Pará and surrounding regions, which it will plant with native tree species. This activity is expected to sequester approximately 5 million metric tons of CO2 over 50 years while preserving biodiversity in the Amazon region.

• Announcing Support for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility. The United States today announced its support for President Lula’s bold vision of creating the TFFF – a pathbreaking new $125 billion fund that reflects both the urgency and the scale of the challenge of conserving the world’s most important forests.  TFFF will attract substantial private capital and make a meaningful contribution to tropical forest conservation.  The United States is announcing support to help finalize the necessary technical and analytical work needed to design and setup the Facility.

These announcements supplement additional efforts the United States is taking to support climate resilience and biodiversity in critical ecosystems like the Amazon and others around the world, including:

Scaling Finance to Restore and Conserve These Important Landscapes

• Leveraging Demand for High-Integrity Forest Carbon Credits. The Lowering Emissions through Advancing Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition, co-founded by the United States as a coalition of private sector and government buyers, recently announced a $180 million agreement on high-integrity forest carbon credits with the Brazilian state of Pará. Revenues from the transaction of credits generated at the scale of the entire state, at the pathbreaking price of $15/tonne of avoided emissions, will support the conservation of the Amazon Rainforest. The agreement is LEAF’s first deal in the Amazon. Next steps include full consultations with stakeholders, program validation and verification of results under the ART-TREES standard. Agreements with additional Amazon region states are expected in the coming months, starting with Acre, with significant demand-side interest for high-integrity credits from Brazilian states. 

• New Cooperation Framework Agreement Between DFC and BNDES. Last month, DFC and Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), the Brazilian Development Bank, signed a cooperation framework agreement to enhance and deepen co-investment opportunities in Brazil in climate-related sectors. This new partnership hopes to expand support for conservation and restoration investments at scale in the Amazon’s arch of reforestation and other important biodiversity-rich biomes.

• Launching a Nature-Based Solutions Investment Lab. Instituto Itausa, BB Asset, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Instituto Clima e Sociedade are partnering with USAID to structure a nature-based solutions (NbS) Investment Lab with $2 million from USAID. The lab will foster an enabling environment to unlock private investment in NbS projects by creating interaction and collaboration among different sources of funds, sources of capital, and NbS stakeholders to create innovative financial instruments and transactions; identifying and designing appropriate business models, standardized projects and assessment of impacts of NbS projects in Brazil; and addressing regulatory challenges and advocate for policy enhancements.

• Launching Alliances for the Amazon. This initiative will build on an existing partnership with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) that created a collective action platform to join private sector and civil society organizations to develop and identify innovative solutions for sustainable development and conservation of the Brazilian Amazon. In its prior phase with USAID support, the Partnership accelerated 123 biodiversity-supportive businesses, leveraged $7.5 million in private funding, and supported conservation of 39 million hectares. The new AFA partnership will expand USAID-CIAT’s ground-breaking TerraBio scientific methodology for measuring biodiversity impact for Amazon-based impact investment projects.

• USAID will Provide $2.6 Million to the Rainforest Wealth Project, led by IMAFLORA in collaboration with Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), which seeks to establish scalable economic models to conserve standing forests, meet legal requirements, enhance local community welfare, and achieve responsible market standards. The project aims to expand the Origens Brasil network to facilitate fair trade for community-produced goods, increasing corporate participation and commitment within the network. It also focuses on strengthening the value chains for non-timber forest products and promoting agroecology among family farmers, traditional communities, settlers, and quilombolas across northern and southeastern Pará, bringing them into the Origens Brasil network.

Building the Bioeconomy

• Announcing $4 million to Support New Business Models that Keep Forests Standing While Benefitting Local Businesses and Families. USAID is announcing $4 million to support a program that it is codesigning with local organization Conexsus to strengthen the bioeconomy business ecosystems in the Brazilian Amazon, bolstering a new economic model that keeps the forest standing and aligns biodiversity conservation with economic growth for local businesses and families to thrive.  This initiative builds on a Memorandum of Understanding signed last March between the Skoll Foundation and USAID that recognized their shared commitment to advance locally led development and expand coordination to address deforestation issues and promote gender equality globally.

• USAID is Investing $1.4 Million in Assobio: The Call for Socio-Biodiversity. This project will strengthen bioeconomy value chains that hold potential for forest and biodiversity conservation while increasing income generation and addressing food security in the state of Mato Grosso. The project’s aim is to strengthen a thriving forest-based economy by creating new public-private arrangements that attract financing and promoting diversified strategies to support regenerative land management, entrepreneurial knowledge, and access to financial resources and markets for family farming and Indigenous people in Mato Grosso’s Amazon region. This will significantly contribute to the conservation of approximately one-third of the forest in Mato Grosso, an area of 8.9 million hectares.

Supporting Low-Carbon, Climate-Resilient Supply Chains

• USAID is Investing $2.8 Million in the Regenerative Agriculture for the Conservation of the Amazon (ARCA) Activity. The ARCA program promotes nature-based solutions and restoration in buffer zones around conservation units, Indigenous lands, quilombolas, and land reform settlements in seven territories in three of Brazil’s Amazonian states—Mato Grosso, Maranhão, and Pará, all of which are located in the Brazilian Amazon’s Arc of Deforestation. ARCA’s aim is to promote sustainable land use, biodiversity conservation, and the socio-environmental resilience of traditional communities through capacity building, collaboration, and innovation. ARCA aims to help improve the management of more than 19 million hectares of land in the Amazon, working with 40 Indigenous Territories and Quilombola Areas.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is Supporting Efforts to Improve Fertilizer Efficiency.USDA has partnered with Brazilian and U.S. institutions on a groundbreaking joint research project to improve fertilizer efficiency, with the goal of combatting climate change and food insecurity. The project, called “Fertilize for Life,” currently funded at $1.2 million is part of USDA’s Fertilize Right Initiative, launched in 2023 with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Global Fertilizer Challenge, and focuses on enabling cooperation on more efficient, climate-friendly land use has significant potential to scale sustainable agriculture, improve productivity and farmers’ livelihoods, while reducing nitrous oxide emissions.

• The Department of State, through a $2.5 million award to the Nature Conservancy (TNC), is supporting efforts to reduce deforestation associated with the Brazilian cattle sector by improving traceability of cattle throughout the entire supply chain. These interventions aim to support the cattle industry in avoiding 400 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year from deforestation and habitat loss, alongside reductions in methane emissions. This effort is anchored in the State of Para, which has set a goal of achieving full cattle traceability by 2025.

Leveraging Technology to Support Forest Conservation and Management

• Partnering with the Government of Brazil to Combat Illegal Logging and Associated Trade.  The U.S. is cooperating to ensure Brazil possesses state-of-the-art technology and operational capacity for timber identification via Mass Spectrometry (DART-TOFMS: Direct Analysis in Real Time Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry). This technology identifies a unique chemical “fingerprint” to identify wood species, strengthening capacity to monitor and enforce legality in timber supply chains.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is Supporting Near Real-Time Burn Area Mapping Efforts to the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Rio de Janeiro Federal University, providing key satellite observations used by Sistema Alarmes. The system generates daily burned area mapping updates for major endangered biomes in Brazil, helping inform decision making at the Brazilian Ministry for the Environment and Climate Change. For more than 15 years NOAA has also supported the satellite-based wildfire monitoring program at the Brazilian Institute for Space Research. That program provides critical near real-time fire detection information for most of South America using a suite of satellite datasets.

• USAID is Investing $7.8 million in its Longstanding Partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to Strengthen Brazilian Fire Management. USAID and the U.S. Forest Service support Brazilian agencies with wildfire prevention and response. Standardized fire curricula ensure all firefighters share a common language and standardized approaches like the Incident Command System. USFS promotes inclusive fire management, training women and Indigenous communities, including the first-ever all-women Indigenous fire brigade in Tocantins and Maranhão. 

Delivering for Local and Indigenous Communities

• USAID is Investing $1.9 Million to Launch the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples for the Forests of the Eastern Amazon. This alliance will bring together organizations representing Indigenous people to conserve, protect, and restore natural resources in 14 Indigenous territories in Maranhão and Tocantins states. The project will cover a total combined area of approximately 2.5 million hectares of land that is home to a population of roughly 35,000 individuals from 11 ethnic groups, as well as a group in voluntary isolation.

• Expanding Support for Existing U.S. Programs Including the Indigenous Peoples Finance Access Facility (IPFAF). This project aims to increase access to financing for Indigenous communities for forest conservation, restoration, and management with a focus on Indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin, as well as the Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia. IPFAF is also working to enhance the capacity of Indigenous peoples and their representative organizations to protect and sustainably manage natural resources in 27 million hectares of forested landscapes of southern Amazonas state, and across savannah and forested landscapes of Roraima state.

• USAID Is Investing $4 Million to Launch the Tapajós for Life Activity, which aims to reduce threats to Amazon biodiversity by improving sustainable use and conservation of 7 million hectares of protected areas and Indigenous peoples’ lands and local communities’ lands in the Tapajós river basin. It will expand the sustainable value chains for forest products, support community-based tourism, and improve territorial management within the river basin.

• USAID will Invest $1.4 Million to Launch the Well-Being and Territorial Management in the Rio Negro and Xingu River Basins Project. This activity seeks to strengthen the capacity of Indigenous peoples of the Xingu and Rio Negro River basins—and their networks of partnerships—to implement Brazil’s National Policy for the Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands (PNGATI) and its management instruments, such as the Territorial and Environmental Management Plans. Strengthening the environmental management of these Indigenous territories in the Rio Negro and Xingu basins could help sustainably manage approximately 26 million hectares of land that are strategically important for the conservation of biodiversity in the Brazilian Amazon. 

• USAID is investing $2.6 million to launch the Integrated Indigenous Territorial Management activity, which will support Indigenous representative organizations to develop territorial and environmental management plans that incorporate policy advocacy on Indigenous lands, enhancing the capacity of Indigenous peoples and their representative organizations to protect and sustainably manage natural resources in a total combined area of 27 million hectares in forested landscapes of southern Amazonas state, and across the savannah and forested landscapes of Roraima state.

Leveraging U.S.-Brazil Science and Technology Partnerships

• Launching Zero Carbon Advanced Energy Systems in the Amazon. The U.S. Department of Energy will execute an assessment of renewable mini-grid deployment in the Legal Amazon region with the goal of supporting Brazil’s Energies of the Amazon Program. A flagship program for President Lula, Energies of the Amazon intends to decrease the region’s negative social and environmental impacts associated with reliance on fossil fuels. By supporting the deployment of reliable, clean power to vulnerable communities in the Amazon, this project will contribute to faster social and economic development in the region.

• Advancing One Health Cooperation in Brazil and the Amazon Basin: The National Science Foundation and its partners will announce $17 million for Belmont Forum grants focused on climate, environment, and health cooperation.  Of these, nearly $3 million in funding is for projects across Brazil and the Amazon Basin. 

• Provided $1.4 Million to Reduce Organized Criminal Activity Related to Illegal Mining and Trafficking of Mercury. The U.S. is promoting the rule of law and economic development in the Brazilian Amazon.  Illegal mining, often marked by its affiliation with organized crime groups, poses a significant threat to peace, stability, and the rule of law, as well as for the environment, ranging from illegal deforestation and water source contamination to air pollution and land degradation.

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President Biden Announces U.S. has surpassed his goal of providing $11 billion per year in international climate financing

President Biden to sign a proclamation designating International Conservation Day; becomes first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon

Since Day One of the Biden-Harris Administration, the fight against climate change has been a defining cause of President Biden’s leadership and presidency. These past four years, the Administration has created a bold new playbook that has turned tackling the climate crisis into an enormous economic opportunity – both at home and abroad. After spearheading the most significant domestic climate and conservation action in history and leading global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, today President Biden is traveling to Manaus, Brazil, where he will meet with Indigenous and other leaders and become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest.

The President has leveraged our Nation’s leadership on domestic climate and conservation action to help accelerate global efforts to combat and reverse deforestation and deploy nature-based solutions that reduce emissions, enhance biodiversity, and build resilience to a changing climate. As part of advancing this ambitious climate and conservation agenda, the Administration is investing in Amazon conservation efforts, sustainable land management, and wildfire prevention, while also strengthening our Nation’s collaboration with Brazil, support for Indigenous communities, and efforts to combat illegal deforestation in the Amazon and around the world.

Today, as part of his historic trip to the Amazon, President Biden will announce that the United States has fulfilled his historic pledge to increase U.S. international climate finance to over $11 billion a year by 2024 – making the United States the largest bilateral provider of climate finance in the world.  This represents a more than six-fold increase from the $1.5 billion in climate finance the U.S. provided in FY21, underscoring the success of President Biden’s whole-of-government effort to scaling-up U.S. climate finance over the last four years.  This also includes achieving for the second year in a row his pledge to scale-up U.S. adaptation finance six-fold to over $3 billion per year to help vulnerable countries around the world build resilience to the impacts of climate change, as part of implementing the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE).  This also included achieving record-levels of climate investments through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and U.S. Export Import Bank (EXIM) – with DFC reaching $3.71 billion in FY24 and EXIM increasing its investments to a record $1.6 billion in FY24.

President Biden will also sign a U.S. proclamation designating November 17th as International Conservation Day. The proclamation recognizes that conservation is critical to protecting the livelihoods of the people who depend on our world’s natural wonders, conserving our ecosystems and wildlife, ensuring our lands and waters can be enjoyed for generations to come, and helping avoid the worst impacts of climate change.  

Central to today’s trip is President Biden’s commitment to conserving our forests and combatting global deforestation. Over the past four years, the Administration has led efforts to conserve more than 45 million acres of lands and waters; safeguard mature and old-growth forests on Federal lands here at home; strengthen reforestation partnerships across the country to support local economies; combat global deforestation; and deploy nature-based solutions that reduce emissions, enhance biodiversity, and build resilience in the face of increasing climate threats.  Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new efforts to accelerate global action to conserve lands and waters, protect biodiversity, and tackle the climate crisis, including:

• Announcing $50 Million for the Amazon Fund. The United States is announcing $50 million for the Amazon Fund, which will bring U.S. total contributions to the Amazon Fund to $100 million, subject to Congressional notification.

• Launching the Brazil Restoration & Bioeconomy Finance Coalition. The United States, BTG Pactual, and over 12 partners are announcing the launch of the Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition.  This Coalition intends to mobilize at least $10 billion in public and private investment for land restoration and bioeconomy-related projects by 2030, supporting the conservation and restoration of at least 5.5 million hectares during this period, and contributing to 1.5 gigatons of emissions reductions and removals through 2050. At least $500 million is expected to be invested in projects that support Indigenous peoples and local communities in the Brazilian Amazon.

• Announcing a New DFC Investment in the Largest Reforestation Projects in the Amazon. DFC is providing a $37.5 million loan to Mombak Gestora de Recursos Ltda., to support the large-scale planting of native tree species on degraded grasslands in Brazil, which will sequester carbon and enable biodiversity conservation. Mombak has designed an innovative and large-scale approach to generating high-quality “Verified Emission Reduction (VER)” credits by acquiring large tracts of degraded grassland in the Brazilian state of Pará and surrounding regions, which it will plant with native tree species. This activity is expected to sequester approximately 5 million metric tons of CO2 over 50 years while preserving biodiversity in the Amazon region.

• Announcing Support for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility. The United States today announced its support for President Lula’s bold vision of creating the TFFF – a pathbreaking new $125 billion fund that reflects both the urgency and the scale of the challenge of conserving the world’s most important forests.  TFFF will attract substantial private capital and make a meaningful contribution to tropical forest conservation.  The United States is announcing support to help finalize the necessary technical and analytical work needed to design and setup the Facility.

These announcements supplement additional efforts the United States is taking to support climate resilience and biodiversity in critical ecosystems like the Amazon and others around the world, including:

Scaling Finance to Restore and Conserve These Important Landscapes

• Leveraging Demand for High-Integrity Forest Carbon Credits. The Lowering Emissions through Advancing Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition, co-founded by the United States as a coalition of private sector and government buyers, recently announced a $180 million agreement on high-integrity forest carbon credits with the Brazilian state of Pará. Revenues from the transaction of credits generated at the scale of the entire state, at the pathbreaking price of $15/tonne of avoided emissions, will support the conservation of the Amazon Rainforest. The agreement is LEAF’s first deal in the Amazon. Next steps include full consultations with stakeholders, program validation and verification of results under the ART-TREES standard. Agreements with additional Amazon region states are expected in the coming months, starting with Acre, with significant demand-side interest for high-integrity credits from Brazilian states. 

• New Cooperation Framework Agreement Between DFC and BNDES. Last month, DFC and Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), the Brazilian Development Bank, signed a cooperation framework agreement to enhance and deepen co-investment opportunities in Brazil in climate-related sectors. This new partnership hopes to expand support for conservation and restoration investments at scale in the Amazon’s arch of reforestation and other important biodiversity-rich biomes.

• Launching a Nature-Based Solutions Investment Lab. Instituto Itausa, BB Asset, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Instituto Clima e Sociedade are partnering with USAID to structure a nature-based solutions (NbS) Investment Lab with $2 million from USAID. The lab will foster an enabling environment to unlock private investment in NbS projects by creating interaction and collaboration among different sources of funds, sources of capital, and NbS stakeholders to create innovative financial instruments and transactions; identifying and designing appropriate business models, standardized projects and assessment of impacts of NbS projects in Brazil; and addressing regulatory challenges and advocate for policy enhancements.

• Launching Alliances for the Amazon. This initiative will build on an existing partnership with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) that created a collective action platform to join private sector and civil society organizations to develop and identify innovative solutions for sustainable development and conservation of the Brazilian Amazon. In its prior phase with USAID support, the Partnership accelerated 123 biodiversity-supportive businesses, leveraged $7.5 million in private funding, and supported conservation of 39 million hectares. The new AFA partnership will expand USAID-CIAT’s ground-breaking TerraBio scientific methodology for measuring biodiversity impact for Amazon-based impact investment projects.

• USAID will Provide $2.6 Million to the Rainforest Wealth Project, led by IMAFLORA in collaboration with Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), which seeks to establish scalable economic models to conserve standing forests, meet legal requirements, enhance local community welfare, and achieve responsible market standards. The project aims to expand the Origens Brasil network to facilitate fair trade for community-produced goods, increasing corporate participation and commitment within the network. It also focuses on strengthening the value chains for non-timber forest products and promoting agroecology among family farmers, traditional communities, settlers, and quilombolas across northern and southeastern Pará, bringing them into the Origens Brasil network.

Building the Bioeconomy

• Announcing $4 million to Support New Business Models that Keep Forests Standing While Benefitting Local Businesses and Families. USAID is announcing $4 million to support a program that it is codesigning with local organization Conexsus to strengthen the bioeconomy business ecosystems in the Brazilian Amazon, bolstering a new economic model that keeps the forest standing and aligns biodiversity conservation with economic growth for local businesses and families to thrive.  This initiative builds on a Memorandum of Understanding signed last March between the Skoll Foundation and USAID that recognized their shared commitment to advance locally led development and expand coordination to address deforestation issues and promote gender equality globally.

• USAID is Investing $1.4 Million in Assobio: The Call for Socio-Biodiversity. This project will strengthen bioeconomy value chains that hold potential for forest and biodiversity conservation while increasing income generation and addressing food security in the state of Mato Grosso. The project’s aim is to strengthen a thriving forest-based economy by creating new public-private arrangements that attract financing and promoting diversified strategies to support regenerative land management, entrepreneurial knowledge, and access to financial resources and markets for family farming and Indigenous people in Mato Grosso’s Amazon region. This will significantly contribute to the conservation of approximately one-third of the forest in Mato Grosso, an area of 8.9 million hectares.

Supporting Low-Carbon, Climate-Resilient Supply Chains

• USAID is Investing $2.8 Million in the Regenerative Agriculture for the Conservation of the Amazon (ARCA) Activity. The ARCA program promotes nature-based solutions and restoration in buffer zones around conservation units, Indigenous lands, quilombolas, and land reform settlements in seven territories in three of Brazil’s Amazonian states—Mato Grosso, Maranhão, and Pará, all of which are located in the Brazilian Amazon’s Arc of Deforestation. ARCA’s aim is to promote sustainable land use, biodiversity conservation, and the socio-environmental resilience of traditional communities through capacity building, collaboration, and innovation. ARCA aims to help improve the management of more than 19 million hectares of land in the Amazon, working with 40 Indigenous Territories and Quilombola Areas.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is Supporting Efforts to Improve Fertilizer Efficiency.USDA has partnered with Brazilian and U.S. institutions on a groundbreaking joint research project to improve fertilizer efficiency, with the goal of combatting climate change and food insecurity. The project, called “Fertilize for Life,” currently funded at $1.2 million is part of USDA’s Fertilize Right Initiative, launched in 2023 with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Global Fertilizer Challenge, and focuses on enabling cooperation on more efficient, climate-friendly land use has significant potential to scale sustainable agriculture, improve productivity and farmers’ livelihoods, while reducing nitrous oxide emissions.

• The Department of State, through a $2.5 million award to the Nature Conservancy (TNC), is supporting efforts to reduce deforestation associated with the Brazilian cattle sector by improving traceability of cattle throughout the entire supply chain. These interventions aim to support the cattle industry in avoiding 400 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year from deforestation and habitat loss, alongside reductions in methane emissions. This effort is anchored in the State of Para, which has set a goal of achieving full cattle traceability by 2025.

Leveraging Technology to Support Forest Conservation and Management

• Partnering with the Government of Brazil to Combat Illegal Logging and Associated Trade.  The U.S. is cooperating to ensure Brazil possesses state-of-the-art technology and operational capacity for timber identification via Mass Spectrometry (DART-TOFMS: Direct Analysis in Real Time Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry). This technology identifies a unique chemical “fingerprint” to identify wood species, strengthening capacity to monitor and enforce legality in timber supply chains.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is Supporting Near Real-Time Burn Area Mapping Efforts to the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Rio de Janeiro Federal University, providing key satellite observations used by Sistema Alarmes. The system generates daily burned area mapping updates for major endangered biomes in Brazil, helping inform decision making at the Brazilian Ministry for the Environment and Climate Change. For more than 15 years NOAA has also supported the satellite-based wildfire monitoring program at the Brazilian Institute for Space Research. That program provides critical near real-time fire detection information for most of South America using a suite of satellite datasets.

• USAID is Investing $7.8 million in its Longstanding Partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to Strengthen Brazilian Fire Management. USAID and the U.S. Forest Service support Brazilian agencies with wildfire prevention and response. Standardized fire curricula ensure all firefighters share a common language and standardized approaches like the Incident Command System. USFS promotes inclusive fire management, training women and Indigenous communities, including the first-ever all-women Indigenous fire brigade in Tocantins and Maranhão. 

Delivering for Local and Indigenous Communities

• USAID is Investing $1.9 Million to Launch the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples for the Forests of the Eastern Amazon. This alliance will bring together organizations representing Indigenous people to conserve, protect, and restore natural resources in 14 Indigenous territories in Maranhão and Tocantins states. The project will cover a total combined area of approximately 2.5 million hectares of land that is home to a population of roughly 35,000 individuals from 11 ethnic groups, as well as a group in voluntary isolation.

• Expanding Support for Existing U.S. Programs Including the Indigenous Peoples Finance Access Facility (IPFAF). This project aims to increase access to financing for Indigenous communities for forest conservation, restoration, and management with a focus on Indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin, as well as the Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia. IPFAF is also working to enhance the capacity of Indigenous peoples and their representative organizations to protect and sustainably manage natural resources in 27 million hectares of forested landscapes of southern Amazonas state, and across savannah and forested landscapes of Roraima state.

• USAID Is Investing $4 Million to Launch the Tapajós for Life Activity, which aims to reduce threats to Amazon biodiversity by improving sustainable use and conservation of 7 million hectares of protected areas and Indigenous peoples’ lands and local communities’ lands in the Tapajós river basin. It will expand the sustainable value chains for forest products, support community-based tourism, and improve territorial management within the river basin.

• USAID will Invest $1.4 Million to Launch the Well-Being and Territorial Management in the Rio Negro and Xingu River Basins Project. This activity seeks to strengthen the capacity of Indigenous peoples of the Xingu and Rio Negro River basins—and their networks of partnerships—to implement Brazil’s National Policy for the Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands (PNGATI) and its management instruments, such as the Territorial and Environmental Management Plans. Strengthening the environmental management of these Indigenous territories in the Rio Negro and Xingu basins could help sustainably manage approximately 26 million hectares of land that are strategically important for the conservation of biodiversity in the Brazilian Amazon. 

• USAID is investing $2.6 million to launch the Integrated Indigenous Territorial Management activity, which will support Indigenous representative organizations to develop territorial and environmental management plans that incorporate policy advocacy on Indigenous lands, enhancing the capacity of Indigenous peoples and their representative organizations to protect and sustainably manage natural resources in a total combined area of 27 million hectares in forested landscapes of southern Amazonas state, and across the savannah and forested landscapes of Roraima state.

Leveraging U.S.-Brazil Science and Technology Partnerships

• Launching Zero Carbon Advanced Energy Systems in the Amazon. The U.S. Department of Energy will execute an assessment of renewable mini-grid deployment in the Legal Amazon region with the goal of supporting Brazil’s Energies of the Amazon Program. A flagship program for President Lula, Energies of the Amazon intends to decrease the region’s negative social and environmental impacts associated with reliance on fossil fuels. By supporting the deployment of reliable, clean power to vulnerable communities in the Amazon, this project will contribute to faster social and economic development in the region.

• Advancing One Health Cooperation in Brazil and the Amazon Basin: The National Science Foundation and its partners will announce $17 million for Belmont Forum grants focused on climate, environment, and health cooperation.  Of these, nearly $3 million in funding is for projects across Brazil and the Amazon Basin. 

• Provided $1.4 Million to Reduce Organized Criminal Activity Related to Illegal Mining and Trafficking of Mercury. The U.S. is promoting the rule of law and economic development in the Brazilian Amazon.  Illegal mining, often marked by its affiliation with organized crime groups, poses a significant threat to peace, stability, and the rule of law, as well as for the environment, ranging from illegal deforestation and water source contamination to air pollution and land degradation.

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