August 09, 2023
The eight Amazon nations have agreed to "advance a new common agenda" to tackle deforestation in the region, promote sustainable development, support Indigenous People's rights, and take "urgent action to avoid the point of no return" for the world's largest rainforest. At a two-day summit held in the Brazilian city of Belém, the host country joined with Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela to sign a joint declaration setting out joint priorities for their efforts to conserve the rainforest. The Belém Declaration sets out plans to create a new alliance between the eight nations focused on the Amazon region, while nations also agreed to establish a new scientific body to conduct research and report annually on the state of the rainforest. In addition, the Declaration promises closer cooperation between governments on other shared environmental priorities, such as water management, tackling cross-border environmental crimes, and joint negotiating positions for future global climate summits, including the COP28 Climate Summit later this year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, the countries failed to agree a single, joint target for tackling deforestation in the Amazon, with each country instead given room to establish its own national goals for reducing deforestation within their borders. Instead, the Declaration emphasised the urgent need for nations to agree on common goals for the Amazon region by 2030 so as "to fight deforestation, halt the advance of illegal natural resources extraction activities, and promote the approaches to land-use planning and transition to sustainable models with the ideal of reaching zero deforestation in the Region". The summit marked the first meeting in 14 years of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO). Alexandra Moreira, secretary general at ACTO, hailed the vision set out in the Declaration, but conceded that delivering on its ambitions would be a challenge that required urgent action from all Amazon countries. "This Declaration with new guidelines not only gives impetus to ACTO, but also to each of the governments of the countries to strengthen themselves at the national level, respecting their Amazonian territories, especially in border areas, revitalising the bi- and tri-national cooperation agendas," she said. "I want to express our gratitude for the proposal to attend ACTO to reinforce, strengthen and modernise the institution and governance." Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - widely known as Lula - had used the summit to push for a joint pact to end Amazon deforestation by 2030 in line with the goal agreed by his government in Brazil. But he failed to secure agreement from all nations, after reportedly facing pushback from Bolivia and Venezuela. Meanwhile, Columbia's President Gustavo Petro also failed to coral ACTA nations into agreeing to ending oil and gas exploration and development in the rainforest amid opposition from Brazil, which is hoping to begin exploring the potential for oil production near the Amazon basin. However, Lula has made tackling Amazon destruction a major plank of his Presidency since taking office in January, after deforestation rates soared under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who sought to favour development over conservation during his tumultuous period in power. During the first six months of Lula's presidency, deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon - which makes up around 60 per cent of the rainforest - has plummeted by almost a third. But the region still continues to lose thousands of kilometres of tree cover every year, with both legal and illegal forest clearances remaining widespread. In his speech at the Summit yesterday, Lula vowed to end the "plundering" of the rainforest that characterised the four "disastrous years" of his predecessor's presidency. "The rainforest is neither a void that needs occupying nor a treasure trove to be looted - it is a flowerbed of possibilities that must be cultivated," he told the audience. "The Amazon can be whatever we want it to be: an Amazon with greener cities, with cleaner air, with mercury-free rivers and forests that are left standing; an Amazon with food on the table, dignified jobs and public services that are available to all; an Amazon with healthier children, well-received migrants [and] Indigenous people who are respected … This is our Amazon dream." Protection of the Amazon rainforest is regarded as critical for the planet's climate, with the region comprising a vast natural carbon store and representing one of the Earth's most biodiverse habitats. However, scientists have warned that destruction of the rainforest is nearing a tipping point which could lead to mass die-off of trees and turn the region into a sparsely forested savannah that would release vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, accelerate climate change, and impact global weather patterns. The new accord follows the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow two years ago, which saw around 100 nations sign up to a pledge to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 - ambitions which remain far off track for being achieved. The two-day OCTA summit this week is therefore widely seen as a critical launchpad for Amazon countries to forge closer cooperation ahead of COP28 later this year, as well as for COP29 Summit, which is also expected to be held in Belém in 2025 when Brazil is set to host the annual UN Climate Summit. Adriana Lobo, managing director for global presence and national action at the World Resources Institute (WRI), said the outcome of this week's summit provided "global momentum towards a more sustainable economy". The WRI had earlier this year produced a study showing that effective policy interventions could end deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon without curbing development. "Countries put forward the right ideas and principles to turn the tide in the Amazon," she said. "They recognised the need to avoid the Amazon tipping point through collective action - by expanding forest restoration and the bioeconomy to sustainably produce goods, shifting to low-carbon agriculture, and deploying clean energy. "The Belem Declaration is a great first step. Now Amazon countries need to act on these ideas — by putting forth a plan with specific actions, policies, and milestones. And a strategy to attract financing to make it a reality."