On August 9, executive leaders and Ministers from Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French Guiana met with a Brazilian delegation — all of whom are part of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) — in Belem do Para, Brazil. The outcome of this meeting was the “Belem declaration”, which called for cooperation between the countries to ensure the survival of the humongous Amazon rainforest, that constitutes a significant portion of these countries, by conserving its biodiversity and natural resources.
It called for the advancement of debt-for-climate action, financed by developed countries. It promised concerted efforts to arrest deforestation by illegal mining and logging, bring about integrated fire management, besides law enforcement for protecting the rights of Indigenous people inextricably linked to the rainforest ecosystem. It called for inviting development banks in the region to work together by pooling funds into a green coalition and which shall provide for conservation and employment and income opportunities for poorer people linked to the Amazon’s economy. Besides other measures.
But it fell short of collectively advancing clear goals such as the protection of 80% of the forest from deforestation and degradation (as proposed by Colombia) or zero deforestation by 2030 even if some constituent nations of the ACTO like Brazil have done so already. Clearly, these countries were not ready to evince a decisive shift from their dependence on extractive industry-driven economics, which would follow from such a commitment.
