Brazilian jungle state passes law to curb climate change, global warming

Brazil's Amazonas state on Tuesday ratified a law to reduce global warming in the state, the state governor Eduardo Braga announced in a statement on Tuesday.

Under the law, a "jungle fund" or "forest scholarship" will be created to reward those "jungle communities for protecting their habitat and reducing deforestation," said Braga.

Businesses with high levels of pollution should invest in the fund and receive carbon credits from local communities which help to curb deforestation, Amazonas' Environmental Secretary Virgilio Viana told reporters.

The new law calls for the creation of programs to educate students about global warming, distributing monthly wages to families which contribute to reducing deforestation and offering tax cuts to companies that are aware of environmental protection.

"The law represents our commitment to conservation and sustainable development," Braga said in the statement.

The vast Amazonas state covers an area of about 1.58 million square kilometers, more than 90 percent of which is rainforest.

In a separate development, a dozen of environmental groups lobbied Brazilian legislators on Tuesday to propose a bill granting tax breaks on "clean" investments. The proposal will go to the finance and tax committee of the Lower House for vote next week.

Brazil is the world's fourth-largest producer of carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. The country releases about 5 percent of the world's total emissions, mainly from deforestation activities and burning of the rainforest.

Source: Xinhua