UN must encourage international cooperation over Amazon wildfires — Keele academic

The UN must encourage the international community to offer its resources and expertise to bring the Amazon wildfires under control, a Keele academic has said.

Ashley Murphy, a PhD candidate in Public Law at Keele Law School, has said that the scale of the wildfires in Brazil and the Earth’s reliance on the Amazon rainforest mean that the UN must take action and encourage the international community to come together.

The record number of wildfires in the Amazon, which can be seen from space, has been labelled an “international crisis” by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

But as global concerns rise over the raging fires in the Amazon, Brazil’s government has complained that it is being targeted in a smear campaign by critics of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who critics say is not doing enough to curb widespread deforestation.

Ashley Murphy, from Keele Law School, said: “Given the reliance of the Earth on the Amazon rainforest, is it time to reevaluate how we interpret article 2 (7) of the UN Charter, which places domestic affairs as off limits for the UN?

“Seeing as Bolsonaro is actively destroying any chance we have of responding to climate change through his deforestation policies, which are now becoming extreme and violent, should we consider this as no longer a domestic issue and a matter of international peace and security?

“As such, the UN Security Council should be discussing possible support mechanisms it could encourage the international community to provide, to help get the fires under control. This could include lending of resources and expertise — this type of response, not a military one.”