On Tuesday, August 8, the Amazonia Summit and the IV Presidential Meeting of the member countries of the Amazonia Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) began in Brazil. As the first contribution of the Summit, the Declaration of Belém Do Pará was issued and signed by the leaders attending the summit, which consists of 113 points aimed at agreeing common goals for 2030, among which stand out “the fight against deforestation, eradicate and stop the advance of illegal extraction activities of natural resources”. This declaration will be submitted to the United Nations and will serve as a point of discussion for future international meetings on the effects of climate change on the planet, including COP 28 to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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Reactivation of ACTO

This is the first Summit in 14 years of this group of eight nations, created in 1995 by the South American countries that share the Amazonia basin: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. But this alliance began with the Amazonia Cooperation Treaty (ACT) on July 3, 1978, signed by the eight Amazonian countries, which is aimed at promoting the harmonious development of the Amazonian territories. The Belém do Pará Declaration establishes a section for the “institutional strengthening of ACTO and specifically for the expansion of its areas of coordination, cooperation and means of implementation as an instrument for the sustainable, harmonious and inclusive development of the Amazonia and the improvement of the national capacities of the States Parties”. In this sense, improvements at the institutional level of ACTO will make it possible to coordinate regional policies on the Amazonia more effectively. Undoubtedly, ACTO thus becomes an integration mechanism that goes beyond environmental issues and involves the political, social and economic spheres.

Disagreements: fossil energy versus green energy

During this first day of the Amazonia Summit, dissent emerged among the countries that make up ACTO regarding the implementation of a greener energy agenda; not all members seem to have the same priorities. For example, Brazilian President Lula Da Silva does not seem to be aligned with the global policy of phasing out fossil fuels. Brazil still has plans for a huge offshore oil drilling project at the mouth of the Amazonia River. A position that contrasts starkly with that of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, for whom the elimination of fossil fuels is essential for the protection of forests, who stated “Even if we kept deforestation under control, the Amazonia would be seriously threatened by the increase in global warming”.

The consensus among the signatory countries of the ACTO was maintained in the corresponding to reach the objective of “Zero Deforestation”; an issue on which President Lula Da Silva and the Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro Moros, who was represented for health reasons by Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez, coincided.

The destroyers of the rainforest are the large agro-industrialists, who burn the trees to gain land for agriculture or cattle raising, illegal prospectors of gold and other precious metals, the timber industry and extractive activities. Daily life in these regions of the Amazonia is often dominated by criminal mafias that make large profits from these illicit activities or use the river and air corridors for drug trafficking, human trafficking and the transport of smuggled goods. Hence, “deforestation” is a first step that would prevent and control a number of criminal activities.

Challenge for the economy: change the model

Venezuela proposed a 9-point road map, some of which are included in the Belém Do Pará Declaration. In the presentation of this proposal made by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, the need to change the global model of exploitation towards a sustainable development that curbs environmental degradation that leads to social inequality, the violation of human rights and the destruction of ecosystems, especially of indigenous peoples and local communities, was highlighted.

Brazil, which owns 60% of the Amazonian territory, has for decades developed its economy on a system of intensive exploitation of the Amazon, which has led it to become the world’s leading producer of soybeans, grown in monocultures, and the second largest producer of beef, produced in intensive farms. Two podiums that have made its economy flourish, although the nine regions of the Brazilian Amazonia are still among the poorest in the country, creating enormous economic and social imbalances. The need for economic growth has justified the unlimited exploitation of environmental resources, creating a parallel between Brazil’s GDP growth and the deforestation of the Amazonia.

If the agreements reached in the Belém do Pará Declaration are fulfilled, Brazil will have to change its growth model through more sustainable agriculture and a production system that is not based exclusively on raw materials. However, according to various studies (World Resource Institute, World Bank), this drastic change will not prevent the South American giant from continuing to grow economically while preserving its forests and biodiversity.

An end to the terror and persecution of Amazonian indigenous peoples

Among the interesting agreements of the Belém Do Pará Declaration are those corresponding to indigenous peoples, which in its paragraph number 44 states “To guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples and local and traditional communities in line with the different normative frameworks of the States Parties and in particular through the application, monitoring, reporting and verification of social and environmental safeguards”. With which would establish the end of the persecution of native peoples, especially in Brazil, which during the nefarious government of former President Jair Bolsonaro lived the consequences of a political agenda that openly violated the constitutional rights and freedoms of the indigenous peoples of Brazil, which are enshrined in Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution.

Furthermore, during Bolsonaro’s presidency, organized crime in the Amazonia, which promotes illegal land grabbing, timber sales and mining, grew exponentially, damaging indigenous territories as a consequence.

Time is running out for future generations

This Amazonia Summit is taking place at a crucial time for our planet and for the fight against climate change. Last July record temperatures were recorded with numbers that make us fear that, without global action, this warming could become the new normal for the world’s climate with the proliferation of climatic phenomena such as torrential rains, cyclones, etc.

According to experts, there is only time until 2029 to save the Amazonia, after which date humanity could reach the so-called “point of no return”. This is the verdict of the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who are keen to point out that much can be done and that, if we act quickly, it is possible to save a large part of the largest tropical rainforest on the planet.

For now, at the Amazonia Summit, good speeches have been made and many proposals covering different fields have been put in writing. The next step is definitely coordinated action to prevent the death of our Amazonia, the plant lung of humanity, which is home to about 10% of the world’s biodiversity and is a carbon sink that ultimately reduces global warming and guarantees life for our entire planet.

[Yoselina Guevara López: social communicator, political analyst, columnist in different international media, whose work has been translated into English, Italian, Greek and Swedish. She has won several awards for her work, including the Simón Bolívar 2022 National Journalism Award (Venezuela), and Aníbal Nazoa 2021 National Journalism Award (Venezuela). Courtesy: Internationalist 360°.]