In the run-up to an Amazon summit in August, the presidents of Brazil and Colombia are emphatically united. Other states should catch up, they demand – and richer countries should provide financial support.
Brazil and Colombia have announced that they want to work together to protect the rainforest in the Amazon region. “My government has committed to ending illegal logging by 2030,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at a meeting in Leticia, Colombia. Other Amazon countries should also adopt this voluntary commitment.
It is “the first time in history” that the governments of Brazil and Colombia have committed to “putting the Amazon at the center of their policies,” Lula said. You have “a lot in common”. He and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro called on richer countries to provide financial support to South American countries to protect the rainforest.
Warning of “devastating consequences”
“In order to preserve the Amazon region, we must (…) save 80 percent of its forests and must not go beyond 20 percent deforestation,” said Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad. “Unfortunately, we’re already at 17 percent deforestation,” she added. Reaching the point of no return would have “devastating consequences for global climate change,” she warned at the meeting. This was also attended by representatives from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Another summit meeting of the Amazon countries is planned for next month in Belem, Brazil. The aim is to agree on a coordinated approach in order to preserve the primeval forest and promote sustainable development. It is threatened, among other things, by illegal deforestation, gully excavations and drug trafficking.
The Amazon rainforest stretches across nine countries, mostly in Brazil. It is one of the few remaining large primeval forests in the world, is home to numerous plant and animal species and is considered an important oxygen reservoir.
Brazil’s President Lula presented a comprehensive protection plan for the Amazon in June. Among other things, it provides for the designation of three million hectares of new protected areas by 2027.