The Amazon Summit concludes with a plan to protect forests, but without measurable goals

Belém An Amazon summit in Brazil concluded on Wednesday with an action plan to protect the rainforest that was hailed as an important step to tackle climate change but contained no concrete commitments that some environmentalists wanted to end with deforestation.

Governors and ministers from eight countries that share the Amazon region signed a declaration on Tuesday in the Brazilian city of Belém outlining plans to boost their countries’ economic development while preventing the continued destruction of the rainforest “from reaching a point of no return.”

Several environmental groups viewed the Declaration as a compilation of good intentions with few measurable goals and specific deadlines. Others, however, have praised it, and the Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples of Cuenca Amazonica — the organization that brings together indigenous groups in the Amazon region — welcomed the inclusion of two of its main demands.

“It is important that the leaders of the countries of the region listened to the flag and understood the call of society: the Amazon is in danger and we do not have much time to act,” the WWF International Group said in a statement. “But the WWF regrets that the Amazon countries, by mutual agreement, have not reached a common point to end deforestation in the region.”

Also attending the summit, on Wednesday, were the presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the envoy of the Indonesian president, and the French ambassador to Brazil representing the French Amazonian territory of Guyana. An envoy from Norway, the largest contributor to Brazil’s Amazon Fund for Sustainable Development, was also present.

On Wednesday, the national representatives signed an agreement similar to that of their counterparts the day before, albeit less comprehensive. Nor did it include any specific targets and mostly reinforced criticism of developed countries for failing to provide the promised large-scale financing to combat climate change.

The eight countries that attended on Tuesday — Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela — are members of the recently revitalized Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), which hopes in the fact that it presents a united front. They have a compelling voice in the global environmental conversations leading up to the COP28 climate conference in November.

The summit advances Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s strategy to boost global interest in preserving the Amazon. Encouraged by the 42% decrease in deforestation during his first seven months in office, he sought international financial support to protect the forests.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting on Wednesday, Lula criticized “protectionist measures poorly masquerading as environmental concerns” that restrict imports from developing countries, saying developed countries should make good on their promises of monetary support to protect forests.

“Nature, which has polluted industrial development for 200 years, requires them to pay their share so that we can revitalize part of what was destroyed. Nature needs money,” Lula declared.

The Amazon region extends over an area twice the size of India. Two-thirds of it is in Brazil, and the remaining third is shared by seven other countries and French Guiana. Historically, governments have considered it an area to be colonized and exploited, with little regard for sustainability and the rights of its indigenous peoples.

All countries in the Amazon have ratified the Paris Climate Agreement, which requires signatories to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But historically, there has been little cross-border cooperation, which has been undermined by low trust, ideological differences, and the absence of a government presence.

ACTO members — who met for only the fourth time in the organization’s 45-year existence — showed on Tuesday that they are not entirely in agreement on crucial issues.

Commitments to protect the forest have been mixed. And their joint declaration did not include a joint commitment to completely end deforestation by 2030, as some had hoped. Brazil and Colombia have already made this commitment.

Some scientists say that when 20-25% of the forest is destroyed, rainfall will drop dramatically, turning more than half of the forest into a tropical savanna, with a massive loss of biodiversity.

The Observatório do Clima, a network of dozens of environmental and social groups, as well as Greenpeace and The Nature Conservancy, lamented the lack of detailed promises in the declaration.

“The 113 operative paragraphs of the declaration have the advantage of reactivating a forgotten ACTO and recognizing that the biome has reached a point of no return, but they offer no practical solutions or a schedule of actions to avoid it,” said the Observatorio. Clima in a statement.

Colombian Indigenous Leader Fanny Cuero, Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations in the Amazon Basin, applauded the declaration for addressing two of her main requests: recognition of their rights to traditional lands and the creation of a mechanism for formal participation of indigenous peoples in the ACTO.

Bruna Santos, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Brazil Institute, said the summit demonstrated “an attempt to engage with the Amazon as part of a regional agenda,” but said it also highlighted ambiguities in the Brazilian government’s priorities, including with regard to oil exploration.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has sharply criticized what he says is the hypocrisy of fighting to preserve the Amazon while encouraging oil extraction.

Lula has refrained from taking a final position on oil, arguing that the decision depends on a technical issue. Meanwhile, state-owned Petrobras has been exploring the mouth of the Amazon River for crude oil.

Despite the disagreements, there have been signs of greater regional cooperation and growing global recognition of the importance of the Amazon region in containing climate change. The judges said having a collective voice — along with funneling more money to ACTO — could help it serve as the region’s representative on the global stage at the COP climate conference.

Anders Haug Larsen, director of international advocacy at Rainforest Foundation Norway, a Norwegian rainforest advocacy body, said the Amazon countries are right to demand more money from developed countries, and that their political will to protect tropical forests represents a historic opportunity.

He declared that “with this summit’s plan and deforestation continuing to decline, this is where the international community should put its climate money.”

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