Amazon wildfires are acute emergency that belongs on G7 agenda: Angela Merkel

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called the wildfires across the Amazon rainforest an "acute emergency" that belongs on the agenda of this weekend's G7 summit in Biarritz, according to AFP news agency. Yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron also made a call to discuss the issue in the upcoming G7 summit.

Wildfires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest have hit a record high this year amid concerns over President Jair Bolsonaro's rollback of environmental protections.

#BREAKING Amazon wildfires 'acute emergency', belongs on G7 agenda: Merkel pic.twitter.com/UAWcejbf9u

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 23, 2019

Meanwhile, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that the Brazilian government lacks the resources to fight a record number of wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest. "The Amazon is bigger than Europe, how will you fight criminal fires in such an area?" he asked reporters as he left the presidential residence. "We do not have the resources for that."

Yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron made a tweet about the wildfires calling them "international crisis". The tweet read, "Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest - the lungs which produce 20% of our planet’s oxygen - is on fire. It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let's discuss this emergency first order in two days!"

Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest - the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen - is on fire. It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let's discuss this emergency first order in two days! #ActForTheAmazon pic.twitter.com/dogOJj9big

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 22, 2019

Bolsonaro brushed off the criticism a few days ago, saying it was the time of the year of the “queimada” or burn when farmers use fire to clear land.

“I used to be called Captain Chainsaw. Now I am Nero, setting the Amazon aflame. But it is the season of the queimada,” he told reporters.

Brazil’s space research center INPE has detected 72,843 fires so far this year, an 83 percent increase over the same period of 2018. That figure is also the highest since records started in 2013.