Save-the-jungle proposal from Amazon nations

Presidents from eight Amazon countries meet on Thursday to lay out a save-the-jungle proposal for the UN climate conference.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy hope to produce a common proposal for saving the rainforest in alliance with leaders from Amazon countries on Thursday, AFP reports.

The presidents meet in the Amazon basin in an attempt to coordinate the positions of Amazon countries before the UN climate conference in December.

One of the aspects to be discussed at the conference is how to combat deforestation by giving economic compensation to those who preserve the forest.

Leaders from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Surinam and Venezuela, Brazil and France participate in the meeting. Nicholas Sarkozy is present because France’s overseas department French Guyana extends into the Amazon basin.

Brazil is the fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter and has promised to cut emissions by 36-39 percent by 2020. Half of the effort will come from reducing deforestation in the Amazon basin by 80 percent.