Brazil withdraws candidacy to host 2019 UN climate conference COP25

Foreign Ministry spokesman Marco Bernardy said Wednesday that Brazil is withdrawing its candidacy to host the 2019 U.N. Climate Change Conference because of budget constraints.

However, environmental groups say the decision is a nod to President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who promised during his campaign to pull Brazil out of the Paris Accord on climate change.

Bolsonaro has vowed to help Brazil's mining and agribusiness companies expand their activities in protected areas, including Amazonian forests.

Bolsonaro's pick for foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, has expressed skepticism about climate change.

Bolsonaro takes office Jan. 1.

(AP)