The Amazon rainforest is a critical ecosystem, playing an important role in regulating the global climate and harbouring an astounding variety of fauna and flora. Within a diverse array of stakeholders, encompassing policymakers, civil society organizations, indigenous communities, social movements, academia, the private sector, and government agencies, the ATCO designed a new agenda for sustainable development, recognising the invaluable role of the Amazon in preserving global biodiversity and the urgency of taking action to protect it.
After the summit, the presidents and heads of delegations signed the Belém Declaration[2], which calls for urgent scaling up of climate action and pledges to protect the rights and territories of Indigenous communities. The Declaration also calls upon developed countries to fulfil their existing pledges for climate and biodiversity finance. Additionally, a second declaration was signed by 12 countries[3]. This new declaration, entitled United for Our Forests[4], calls for the development of financing mechanisms to mitigate the critical situation of rainforests.
The declarations aim to prevent the Amazon from reaching a point of no return and they highlight the need for collaborative efforts. Through the declarations the parties:
- Recognised the contribution of indigenous people and local communities: their traditional knowledge and sustainable practices are vital for its preservation.
- Reaffirmed their commitment to forest preservation by reducing deforestation and other drivers of degradation. The Amazon plays a critical role in the mitigation of climate change by absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide. Deforestation not only releases stored carbon but also reduces the forest’s ability to act as a carbon sink.
- Expressed their concern regarding the non-fulfilment by developing countries of their pledge to provide development assistance equal to 0.7 % of their gross national income, and to provide $100 billion in climate financing per year; and called upon developed countries to fulfil their climate finance obligations and to contribute to mobilise $200 billion per year by 2030, as it was set out in the Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Despite these commitments, there were still some gaps in the final document, putting the climate declaration in an inherently fragile status. The declarations did not make a commitment to zero deforestation and did not make a call to end oil exploration, fight out illegal mining and gold exploitation activities and organized crime in the forest. The agenda however demands for investment, technologies, innovation, social inclusion, sustainable development activities and involves different stakeholders throughout the world. It is the moment to put words into actions and to implement these commitments to protect the Amazon rainforest. Deforestation is not only an issue to be handled locally and countries worldwide must act, notably by implementing rules against deforestation. European countries have an essential role to play when it comes to the financing, but also on the ground, such as France who shares 730 km of Amazon border with Brazil and has a pivotal role to play in the preservation of the rainforest.
[1] Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela
[2] “Declaração Presidencial por ocasião da Cúpula da Amazônia – IV Reunião de Presidentes dos Estados Partes no Tratado de Cooperação Amazônica” dated 9 August 2023
[3] Bolivia, Brazil, Colombian, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Guyana, Indonesia, Peru, the Republic of Congo, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname.
[4] United for Our Forests: Joint Communiqué of Developing Forest Countries in Belém, dated 9 August 2023
