The European Union has pledged to nearly double its funding for sustainable investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, as the bloc seeks to keep pace with China’s rapidly growing presence in the region.
On a visit to Brasilia on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, announced that the EU will provide €10 billion for green projects as part of its Global Gateway Infrastructure Initiative.
Part of this will go towards investments in the Amazon Basin, which – while a crucial barrier against climate change – has been devastated by rising levels of illegal deforestation in recent years.
The European Union launched Global Gate in late 2021 as a competitor to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the massive foreign policy investment program and key to Beijing’s geopolitical clout.