The Amazon Summit will end this Wednesday (9) with its main document not having a consensus among the countries participating in the meeting.
The Declaration of Belém, the main document of the Amazon Summit, was released last Tuesday (8), and did not include single targets to eliminate illegal deforestation in the Amazon countries or information on oil exploration in the region.
President of one of the countries with the Amazon on its territory, Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro had to cancel his trip because of an ear infection.
See also: Maduro withdraws from participating in the Amazon Summit
Differences in the Declaration
Brazilian diplomacy had even advocated that, in the Declaration, countries use Brazil’s goal of achieving zero illegal deforestation by 2030.
The document only stresses “the urgency of agreeing on common goals for 2030 to combat deforestation, eradicate and stop the advance of illegal extraction of natural resources and promote territorial planning approaches and the transition to sustainable models, with the ideal of achieving deforestation zero in the region”.
In the summary of the Declaration, the Brazilian case is cited as an example. Peru, Colombia and Venezuela agreed with the Brazilian wish, but the CNN found that Guyana, Suriname and Bolivia refused the possibility of leaving the meeting with a single target.
Another point that lacked consensus was on the adoption of a veto on oil exploration in the Amazon region.
This goal was defended by the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who gave the most emphatic speech among the heads of state present at the meeting, in Belém. The postponement of this decision, according to Petro, is a kind of denialism.
“Politics cannot “stand out from the economic interests that derive from fossil capital,” said the president of Colombia.
VIDEO – Villa: Amazon Summit in Brazil is Itamaraty victory
Other countries
On its last day, the Summit will have events that will include representatives from other developing countries with tropical forests and funders of the South American Biome Monetary Fund.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) invited Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo to the event.
Together, the countries have three of the largest tropical forests in the world: the Amazon, the Congo and the Borneo-Mekong, which passes through Indonesia.
According to Lula, “in addition to the eight Amazonian countries, the presence of Indonesia and the two Congos [República do Congo e República Democrática do Congo]countries with tropical forests, is fundamental for an alliance for sustainable development”.
In November last year, the countries presented the creation of an alliance during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27), which took place in Egypt, in which Lula participated as president-elect.
Germany and Norway, as the main donors to the Amazon Fund, were also invited.
The United States was not invited by Brazil to the summit. In April, President Joe Biden announced a donation of R$2.5 billion to the Amazon Fund. The amount has not yet been officially sent, but it would place the country among the fund’s biggest donors.
Currently, R$ 3.4 billion are deposited in the fund, R$ 3.1 billion of which were donated by Norway, R$ 192 million by Germany and the remaining amount by Petrobras.
Also present at the event will be the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, who holds the rotating presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and the president of COP28, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, who will be held in December in the United Arab Emirates.
So far, the following authorities are confirmed at the event:
- Denis Sassou Nguesso (President of the Republic of Congo);
- Felix Tshisekedi (President of the Democratic Republic of Congo);
- Ralph Gonsalves (Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines);
- Andreas Dahl-Jørgensen (director of the Norwegian International Initiative for Climate and Forests – NICFI);
- Vedis Vik (envoy from Norway for Climate and Forest);
- Annette Bull (Minister Counselor Norway);
- Rafael Volochen (Adviser for Climate and Forestry in Norway);
- Niels Annen (Secretary of Parliamentary State of the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany);
- Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber (President of COP28).
Representatives from France are also expected to be present.
On the occasion, convergences will be explored to start a process of building coordinated positions in negotiations on environmental issues, starting with COP28 and COP16 on biodiversity.
VIDEO – Countries reach agreement without common deforestation target
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
