The Amazon, the world's largest evergreen rainforest, has been steadily disappearing over the past two decades due to various reasons… from devastating wildfires to continuous deforestation. Representatives of eight Latin American countries released a Joint Declaration on August 9, 2023 at the end of a two-day summit to save the Amazon, popularly known as the lung of the planet Earth, as the rainforest absorbs about 25% of atmospheric carbon dioxide and produces 6% of total oxygen in Earth's atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis.
The summit began on August 8 in the Brazilian city of Belém, as the leaders of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela took part in the event. It was the first such summit held in the last 14 years. During the summit, participants agreed that at least 80% of forest needed to be protected in order to avoid an irreversible tipping point. At the end of the summit, the leaders of the eight nations issued the Belém Declaration, announcing that they would soon form a coalition to fight the destruction of the Amazon.
Reuters reported that countries participating in the Belém Summit agreed on the formulation of a joint environmental policy. Although the Joint Declaration called for building regional cooperation in this regard, Amazon countries failed to agree on protection goals. Ahead of the summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for a unified policy to halt deforestation in the Amazon by 2030.
The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO), which organised the summit, mentioned in a statement that Colombia proposed that 80% of the Amazon should be protected from deforestation and degradation by 2025. However, Colombia did not receive support from other participating countries. The leaders focussed mainly on "initiating a dialogue" on the sustainability of mining and fossil fuel-related activities, although no one made any commitment to stop oil drilling in the region. According to US-based nonprofit organisation Avaaz, it is evident in the outcome of the summit that President Lula and his Latin American counterparts intend to continue fossil fuel exploitation.
Meanwhile, the summit recognised Indigenous knowledge as a condition for biodiversity conservation, calling for ensuring full and effective participation of Indigenous People in decision-making and public policy formulation processes. "Indigenous People are under constant threats and land rights will not only give them better protection, it will also prevent deforestation and protect the rich biodiversity within these territories," stressed Anders Haug Larsen, head of international advocacy group Rainforest Foundation Norway.
Incidentally, nearly 60% of the world's largest rainforest is situated in Brazil. Various international reports have claimed that deforestation has decreased in Brazil since Lula took charge as the President on January 1, 2023. The rate of deforestation in the Amazon reportedly rose by nearly 10% during the regime of Lula's predecessor, Jair Messias Bolsonaro.
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