Biden begins historic Amazon trip amid Trump climate fears

MANAUS, Brazil: US President Joe Biden began an historic trip to the Amazon rainforest on Sunday to promote his record on fighting climate change amid fears that Donald Trump will roll back his green policies.

Biden landed in the Brazilian city of Manaus, in the heart of the world´s largest jungle, on the last leg of a valedictory South American before handing the keys of the White House to Trump in January.

The 81-year-old, the first sitting US president to visit the Amazon, will fly over the rainforest by helicopter, visit a museum and meet Indigenous and local leaders working to protect the Amazon.

From Manaus he will continue on to Rio de Janeiro for a G20 summit starting on Monday.

Ahead of his Amazon visit, the White House announced that the US had hit its target of increasing bilateral climate financing to $11 billion a year.

It said that the figure reached this year was six times what the US was providing at the start of Biden´s term in 2021 and made “the United States the largest bilateral provider of climate finance in the world.”

“The fight against climate change has been a defining cause of President Biden´s leadership and presidency,” the White House said.

Biden arrived in Brazil from Peru, where he attended his last summit with Asia-Pacific leaders. He has cut a diminished figure on his tour. All eyes in Lima were on Chinese President Xi Jinping who was received with greater fanfare.