Hundreds of people demonstrated Friday in London but also in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Geneva or Dublin to call to save the Amazon under fire, responding to a call for mobilization around the world for the lungs "on fire" of the planet.
"Our lungs are on fire"
In front of the Brazilian Embassy in London, protesters carried signs "Stop Destruction Now" or "Save Our Planet", as well as the logo of the ecologist movement Extinction Rebellion (XR), who called for this rally under the slogan "Our lungs are on fire"
"Save the Amazon!" Shouted protesters from the sidewalk in front of the Brazilian embassy, held at a distance by police barriers. Among them, many children accompanied by their mothers, drawing with chalk on the ground, blowing soap bubbles or making crowns of leaves.
Events all over Europe
"I am very concerned about climate change, especially the impact of livestock in the Amazon and on the planet," AFP Lucy Brown, 41, who works in the charity sector, told AFP. his two children of 2 and 4 years old. "We have all seen these horrible images and we want to do something in solidarity with people in Brazil," said Luisa Steward, a 36-year-old English teacher. "We have children and we want them to grow up in a world that still has its lungs," she added.
Demonstrations were also scheduled for Friday in Sao Paulo and Rio, as well as in front of other embassies and consulates of Brazil with the call of Extinction Rebellion and "Fridays for Future", the movement of the young Swede Greta Thunberg, muse of the fight against global warming, especially in Berlin, Madrid and Turin.
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In Barcelona, several hundred people gathered in front of the Brazilian consulate to criticize the government of Jair Bolsonaro. "These fires are caused with the consent of the Brazilian government that does nothing to stop them.If there is one person to blame, it is Mr. Jair Bolsonaro," told AFP Aitor Urruticoechea, spokesman for "Fridays for future" in the Catalan city.
"It's not fire, it's capitalism." The spot-on singing at today's protest at the Brazilian consulate in Barcelona in the Amazon Rainforest. # # AmazonasSOS amazonasenllamaspic.twitter.com / 97nG2pkngm
- Kate Shea Baird (@KateSB) August 23, 2019The Dutch branch of this movement conducted a short action on Friday afternoon at Dam Square in Amsterdam. According to the Dutch press agency ANP, the demonstrators carried out a "die-in" for about ten minutes, lying on the ground, claiming to be dead. About a hundred people also protested in front of the Brazilian consulate in Geneva. In Dublin, a hundred people occupied the entrance to a building that houses the Brazilian Embassy. Other gatherings are planned, in Warsaw and Lisbon on Saturday and Brussels on Monday.
Taking the #AmazonFires protest indoors at the Embassy in Dublin now pic.twitter.com/62iZA1G9FZ
- John Gibbons (@think_or_swim) August 23, 2019According to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), there have been nearly 2,500 new fire starts in 48 hours in Brazil as a whole. Deforestation, which is advancing rapidly, is the main cause. According to the INPE, 75,336 forest fires were recorded in the country from January to 21 August - 84% more than the same period last year - and more than 52% concern the Amazon .