LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has pledged to donate 10 million euros to help fight the Amazon wildfires, the group said Monday.
The sum will support the financial initiative revealed by French President Emmanuel Macron during a press conference at the G7 summit in Biarritz on Monday. The French head of state, joined onstage by Chilean President Sebastian Piñera, pledged to create an urgent financial aid fund of $20 million to fight the fires that have been ravaging the Amazon forest.
Most of the funds will be used to send a fleet of Canadair aircraft to combat the spreading wildfires, Macron said during the press conference. The craft will be dispatched “immediately,” he said.
“Protecting the environment is not just about words and speeches or signing declarations of principle, it also requires taking concrete collective actions when dangers arise in order to provide resources for local specialists and work together to save our planet,” said photographer and president of GoodPlanet Foundation Yann Arthus-Bertrand, who is part of the LVMH board. “I am proud that LVMH is participating in this emergency effort, and I hope that many others will follow suit.”
The LVMH statement, calling for a “collective effort,” stressed that “France has the honor of sharing responsibility for this immense rain forest, along with its vast neighbor Brazil and its other South American neighbors,” a sentiment echoed by Macron.
“The Amazon absorbs 14% of global CO2 emissions,” said the French head of state on Twitter. “Losing the world’s main lung is a global problem. No country can assume sole responsibility.”
This story was reported by WWD and originally appeared on WWD.com.
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