Caption: this map shows all the ongoing fires in the Amazon on 21 August 2019 (source: InfoAmazonia.org)

The burning of the Amazon rainforest is out of control.

With the blessing of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, illegal loggers are mounting an all-out assault on our planet’s “green lung”, its vital carbon stores and the three million species of plants and animals who call it home.

And Europe is about to add fuel to the blaze by signing a deal to import cheap beef, soy, wood and other products grown from the Amazon’s ashes.

There’s still time to stop this. With enough public pressure, we can derail the so-called Mercosur trade agreement just like TTIP before it, and stop the Amazon fires from getting even worse. But we need to act fast before the deal is sealed.

Sign the petition to the EU: Save what’s left of the Amazon. Stop the Mercosur trade deal now!

The trade deal between the EU and Mercosur -- aka Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay -- would allow commodities from those countries to be fast-tracked into Europe, fattening corporate pockets on both sides.

The politicians behind the deal claim it includes a “commitment to tackle deforestation” -- but over 600 scientists, two Brazilian indigenous organisations and 340 civil society groups like SumOfUs are calling foul. Europe must not reward Bolsonaro and his corporate cronies for the unspeakable rainforest and climate devastation that has occurred since he took office just eight months ago.

Deforestation isn’t the only reason we should be worried about the Mercosur agreement. If it passes, Europe will be importing a whole lot more fruit and veg treated with banned pesticides. Thanks to Bolsonaro’s loosened regulations, megacorporations like Syngenta have been churning out chemicals in Brazil that they aren’t allowed to make here. They’re sprayed all over crops that could soon reach our supermarket shelves – unless we block this deal right now.

For the sake of our health and our planet: Stop the EU-Mercosur trade deal!

Can ordinary people like you and me really make a difference in stopping a years-in-the-making treaty between world superpowers? Of course we can! Remember TTIP? When the EU and US were on the verge of signing an agreement that would’ve flooded Europe with hormone-treated meat and GMO produce, SumOfUs members like you joined a three-million-strong citizens’ movement to stop it -- and your pressure got the deal called off.

Now, we’ve got to push back against Mercosur and convince the new, greener European Parliament that there can be no deal as long as the Amazon is burning. Italy, Ireland, and France have already voiced doubts -- an avalanche of public opposition could tip the scales and turn all of Europe against this dangerous new partnership. So please, will you add your name now?

Sign the petition to make the EU stop Mercosur in its tracks.

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