At a summit in Brazil, eight South American nations committed to forming an alliance to save the Amazon and vowed to prevent the planet’s largest rainforest from reaching “a point of no return.”
South American leaders urged industrialized nations to step up efforts to halt the massive destruction of the planet’s largest rainforest, arguing that such a job cannot be left to a small number of nations when the situation has been brought on by so many.
New and Ambitious shared agenda
A “new and ambitious shared agenda” to protect the rainforest, an essential barrier against climate change that experts worry is being pushed to the point of collapse, was accepted on Tuesday at the highly watched summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO), according to the host nation Brazil.
At the mouth of the Amazon River in Belem, the group’s members—Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela—signed a joint declaration outlining a nearly 10,000-word plan to advance sustainable development, stop deforestation, and combat the organized crime that fuels it.
The primary requests of environmentalists and Indigenous organizations, such as for all member nations to join Brazil’s vow to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030 and Colombia’s pledge to stop new oil exploration, were not, however, accepted by summit participants. Instead, nations will be free to work towards their unique deforestation objectives.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, has bet his reputation on enhancing his country’s environmental position. He has been urging the region to come together behind a shared strategy of stopping deforestation by 2030.
Amazon nations launch alliance to protect rainforest at key summit
July to be the hottest month ever measured on Earth
The two-day meeting began on the same day that the climate observatory of the European Union declared July to be the hottest month ever measured on Earth. In his introductory remarks, Lula stressed the “severe worsening of the climate crisis”.
We must act jointly, he continued, because of the potential and difficulties of our time.
It’s never been more critical, he continued. Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, called for a “Marshall Plan”-style policy in which the debt of developing nations is canceled in exchange for action to combat climate change.
What are we doing, besides giving speeches, if we’re about to go extinct and this is the decade when major decisions need to be made? said he. Some people were disappointed that the eight Amazonian nations were unable to reach an agreement on a legally binding agreement to conserve their forests and rainforests.
