Rainforest countries form pact to demand money for conservation

Twelve countries asked on Wednesday at the amazon summit in Brazil that developed nations meet their climate finance obligations and contribute $200 billion per year by 2030 in funds to promote biodiversity.

the joint statement “United by our jungles” it was signed by Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Guyana, Indonesia, Peru, Republic of the Congo, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Venezuela.

The Amazon, the Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia are home to the world’s largest tropical rainforests, critical ecosystems that absorb carbon dioxide and support an enormous diversity of species.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called this week’s Amazon Summit in an attempt to forge a united front among rainforest nations when they engage in international negotiations such as this year’s United Nations COP28 climate summit.

“We are going to COP28 with the aim of telling the rich world that if they want to effectively preserve the forest that exists, they have to pay money not only to take care of the canopy, but to take care of the people who live under it”Lula said on Wednesday.

In the joint statement, the countries called for financing mechanisms to be developed for the world to pay for critical services provided by forests.

They also expressed concern that the richest nations have not followed through on their promise to provide $100 billion a year in climate finance to developing countries.

In addition, they called on developed nations to fulfill the existing commitment to contribute 200,000 million dollars annually for the preservation of biodiversity.

The countries also condemned the use of trade restrictions that they say are disguised as environmental measures, alluding to the approval by the European Union of a law that prohibits companies from importing products related to deforestation.

Wednesday’s pact builds on an agreement reached a day earlier by the eight Amazon countries, which was criticized by some environmentalists for failing to guarantee a commitment to end deforestation by 2030.

Lula, a former president on two occasions and who has long tried to build multilateral blocs with less developed countries, has repeatedly called on industrialized countries to honor their commitments to finance actions against climate change in the poorest, which have hardly contributed to global warming.

At last year’s climate summit, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia agreed to form an alliance to pressure rich countries to pay for conservation. The inclusion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the summit marks a gradual expansion of cooperation.

Source: Reuters