The summit of countries of the Amazon began this Tuesday in the Brazilian city of Belém, and according to the host Lula da Silva it will represent a “milestone” in the fight against the destruction of the largest tropical forest on the planet.
Led by the Brazilian president, the eight countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA) meet to discuss strategies against deforestation and organized crime and for the development of this vast region, which is home to around 10% of biodiversity of the planet.
“It has never been so urgent to resume and expand our cooperation (…), we will promote a new vision of sustainable and inclusive development in the region, combining environmental protection with job creation” for the almost 50 million inhabitants of the Amazon, stated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the opening of the event.
The summit is amilestone” and will mark “one before and one after” in the history of the defense of the Amazon and the ecological transition, assured the leftist president, who promised a plan of “detailed and comprehensive action for sustainable development” in the region.
Also participating in the meeting are the presidents of Bolivia, Luis Arce, of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and of Peru, Dina Boluarte, as well as the Prime Minister of Guyana, Mark Phillips, and the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who replaced President Nicolás Maduro, absent due to ear infection.
Ecuador and Suriname are represented by their foreign ministers.
Belém, which in 2025 will receive the UN COP30 conference, woke up with a rigid security operation, with blockades around the event and the largest aircraft carrier in Latin America, of the Brazilian Navy, stationed in the port.
Considered for years the lung of the planet, the Amazon is headed, according to scientists, to a point of no return, from which it will begin to emit more carbon than it absorbs, aggravating climate change.
The agreements of the summit will be embodied in the “Belém Declaration”, with an “energetic and daring” commitment to contain the “threats” facing the Amazon, said Alexandra Moreira, secretary general of ACTO, an organization created in 1995 to preserve the jungle.
The “Scientific scenarios show us the need for zero deforestation in 2030 and for this one of the measures is the fight against crime and organized crime installed in several of the Amazonian territoriesadded Moreira.
Deforestation and oil
One of the main challenges is precisely to achieve common goals to eradicate deforestation, a strong demand from civil society.
Brazil promised to end it in 2030 and it remains to be seen if the rest of the countries will decide to do the same.
“Each country has its dynamics, we do not work with the imposition of thought, it is a process of progressive consensus”, assured the Minister of the Environment of Brazil, Marina Silva.
Bolivian activist Pablo Solón, one of the social representatives who spoke at the opening of the summit, even stated that this 2030 goal is “insufficient”.
“It is necessary to protect at least 80% of the Amazon by 2025. This implies stopping deforestation (…) and rehabilitating the lands devastated by fire and monocultures”, he added in reference to this goal also defended by Colombia.
The end of oil exploration in the Amazon region, for which Colombia is also advocating, was another demand from civil society in a seminar prior to the summit.
The Colombian Environment Minister, Susana Muhamad, admitted that it would be difficult to reach an agreement in this regard.
Ecuadorians will decide this month in a referendum whether to suspend the exploitation of crude oil in the strategic ITT block, which is within the Yasuní reserve and from which 12% of the 466,000 barrels per day that the country produces is extracted.
Experts point out that the declaration should include commitments for greater protection of indigenous territories, considered an important barrier against deforestation, due to the sustainable way in which these communities exploit their resources.
leadership to test
On Wednesday, the ACTO leaders will meet with representatives from the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Indonesia, countries that also have tropical forests in their territories, as well as other guests such as France, Norway and Germany.
The objective of that day will be to achieve a common position to present at COP28 to be held this year in Dubai.
The event is also seen as a test of the leadership of the region in the matter and especially of Brazil, after Lula’s return to power, which ended four years of climate denial by his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
The top “should produce concrete results if the region is serious about positioning itself as a leader in climate action”, affirmed the activist group Avaaz.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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