Paris (AFP)

The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, president of the alliance of the big cities for the climate C40, denounced Friday "a crime against humanity" about the important fires which ravage the Amazon forest.

"The Amazon rainforest is one of the most important commons of humanity, and it burns because of the irresponsible behavior of a small number of international politicians and business leaders," Hidalgo criticized in a statement. communicated.

"The greed of these so-called leaders is impacting all of humanity by accelerating the global climate crisis," she said. "These fires in the Amazon are a crime against humanity and officials will explain," added the mayor of Paris calling on justice to seize the destruction of the commons.

"While mayors from more than 50 major cities around the world are preparing to meet in Copenhagen in October for the C40 Summit, we will work with my fellow mayors," said Hidalgo.

Some 700 new fires were recorded in 24 hours Thursday in the Amazon, according to figures released Friday by the National Institute of Space Research (INPE). The same institute has recorded 76,720 forest fires, mainly due to deforestation, since the beginning of the year in Brazil, of which 52% concern the Amazon.

© 2019 AFP