We need to send out a strong message that action is going to be taken to protect the rainforest. When you think about it, we impose sanctions on other countries for damage they may inflict on the world in the future. What’s happening in the rainforest is happening today, by the second, by the minute, by the hour. The horrific videos of the burning of the rainforest should revolut us all. I want my party and the irish government to adopt this policy. We need to get the European Union and the United Nations to adopt this policy. They all need to wake up and act in response to the ongoing damage that is being done to the world as a result of the burning of the rainforest.

Ireland is a small country, but we’re an influential country. People listen to what we have to say. We now have a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Ireland needs to be the first country in the world that calls for the imposition of economic sanctions on the Bolsonaro regime in Brazil because of its action. To date, the Brazilian government has ignored demands to stop the burning of the rainforest.

The Amazon rainforest is vital for containing climate change. It absorbs harmful carbon dioxide that otherwise would go into the atmosphere. We need to protect these lungs of the planet, not just for the people of South America but for the whole world. The reckless burning of the rainforest is irreparably damaging all of our global efforts to stop climate change.

Last year 5 million acres of the Amazon rainforest were deliberately burned. To put this into perspective this is an area roughly the size of Leinster or Wales. This shameful act of eco-vandalism is part of an ongoing strategy by the Bolsonaro regime in Brazil to destroy the rainforest.