At their summit in Brazil, the Amazon countries wanted to work out a joint commitment for the largest rainforest on earth. But key points are missing from the statement. Instead, there is only lip service.
“With this summit, a new Amazon dream is awakening for the region and for the world” – these were noble words and great visions with which host Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the meeting of the Amazon states.
The Amazon will be how we want it. An Amazon with greener cities, cleaner rivers without mercury and still intact jungle
The gathering indeed marks a turning point. The neighboring countries had not come together for 14 years. Now they wanted to work out a joint agenda for the largest rainforest on earth in the Amazon city of Belém.
No joint obligation
Time is of the essence, said Brazil’s President with a view to the worsening of the climate crisis. It is hoped that the Amazon countries should finally appear at the climate summit with a unified agenda. “It has never been so urgent to resume and expand cooperation. The challenges of our time, and the resulting opportunities, require joint action.”
More cooperation, a kind of regional climate panel, plus the commitment to protect the rights of indigenous peoples – but the key points are missing in the final document: There is no joint commitment to stop deforestation, as Brazil had hoped. Lula himself – who had pledged zero deforestation by 2030 – has just announced that deforestation has been reduced by more than 40 percent and is now hoping to get neighboring countries to make similar commitments.
Petro’s dig at Lula
But nothing came of it: instead, lip service. It is up to each country to set specific deforestation targets. Even less agreement was reached on curbing the production of coal, oil and gas in the Amazon region, which Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro had called for. It is one of the most contentious issues, as the economies of many neighboring countries depend on petrodollars.
“It’s a difficult ethical conflict, especially for progressive governments. And then we see a different kind of negationism, namely that decisions are postponed,” Petro complained. That was a dig at his colleague Lula. Because in his own coalition there is a dispute about a controversial offshore development project near the mouth of the Amazon, which Lula was not opposed to, at least initially.
“Don’t sit at the President’s table”
It became clear how far apart the eight neighboring countries are in their commitment to protect their own forests. Criticism of this came mainly from the streets, where more than 25,000 representatives of indigenous communities, traditional river dwellers and activists had gathered since the weekend.
“This picture shows it all. When it comes to such important decisions that affect our lives and our territories, we don’t sit at the President’s table,” said well-known indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku in front of the summit hangar. “The countries that give money to Brazil must push for our territories to be protected.” Because it is not the governor, it is not the president who will save the Amazon. “It is we who have to defend the forest on the front line every day.”
The before and after promised by Lula does not mark the Belém summit declaration. The mere fact that the Amazon summit could take place is still considered a success by many observers. In Belém, it became particularly clear that the pressure from the civilian population is also growing in South America.