August 9, 2023
WASHINGTON, DC — The leaders of State Parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT) gathered in the Brazilian city of Belém for a two-day summit, with the aim of reaching an agreement to address the threats to the Amazon rainforest and highlight its significance in confronting the climate crisis.
The Amazon Summit, initiated by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, brought together the leaders of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela to discuss critical issues such as deforestation, illegal mining and organized crime, regional cooperation, and sustainable development initiatives.
During the Summit, State Parties presented the Belém Declaration outlining their collective commitments. The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) released the following statements:
Carla García Zendejas, Director of CIEL’s People, Land, & Resources Program:
“Latin America remains the most dangerous region in the world to speak out in favor of land, water, and our basic right to live in a healthy environment. Colombia and Brazil have the highest levels of violence, killings, and threats to defenders worldwide. Yet the Belém Declaration fails to acknowledge how conflicting forces in the region continue to put oil and gas projects and devastating extractive and infrastructure plans forward despite pushback from communities and Indigenous leaders advocating to protect the ecosystems on which they rely.
This makes the absence of any mention of the Escazú Agreement (the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean), in a declaration by South American nations that is meant to solidify urgent cooperation in the Amazon region, even more egregious. This glaring omission illustrates an ongoing failure to understand the role defenders play in protecting the right of every citizen to live in a clean and healthy environment and to ensure that this right exists for future generations.
Any plan for cooperation in the Amazon region must take into account the fragile, violent, and dangerous context in which all actions and decisions will be taken. While the declaration makes attempts to address environmental defenders, it does not recognize the crucial importance of ensuring access to information, public participation, and the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples as stakeholders in decision making in the Amazon. The fragility of the Amazon in the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis merits actions not only at an international level but decisions taken in full dialogue with the people who know the region best. Only then can true environmental democracy be achieved.”
Nikki Reisch, Director of CIEL’s Climate & Energy Program:
“Ending reliance on fossil fuels is as critical to the survival of the Amazon as is ending deforestation and forest degradation. Yet the leaders gathered at the Amazon Summit failed to make concrete commitments to address either of these central drivers of the Amazon’s destruction and global climate chaos. The Belém Declaration does not commit State Parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty to ending deforestation by 2030, or to addressing the primary, intersecting drivers of rainforest loss — industrial agriculture and the extractive and destructive industries that expose primary forests to land conversion. Focusing on actions to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation is not the same as tackling their root causes. Glaringly absent from the declaration is any mention of the threat that continued production and use of oil and gas poses to the Amazon and the ecosystems, communities, and climate that depend on it. Instead, exploration and development of new oil and gas projects continues — even at the mouth of the Amazon itself — directly undercutting leaders’ pledges to prevent the region from reaching the point of no return. Allowing expansion of fossil fuel extraction in the Amazon is incompatible with human rights, including Indigenous Peoples’ rights, biodiversity protection, and climate goals.
Such political gatherings can be important moments to galvanize support and financing for real solutions, including the leadership of Indigenous Peoples in safeguarding the Amazon and the tremendous biodiversity it hosts. Despite attention in the Declaration to human rights and the need to enhance protection of defenders, the Summit was a missed opportunity to explicitly reaffirm Amazon nations’ commitment to upholding the globally recognized right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
As the world gears up for the United Nations General Assembly and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) amidst intensifying climate disasters — and as Brazil looks ahead to hosting COP30 — now is the time to demonstrate leadership on protecting the Amazon from looming tipping points. Doing so requires confronting the industries threatening it — Big Oil and Big Ag — and centering human rights in all climate action.”
Daniela Duran Gonzalez, Senior Legal Campaigner, CIEL’s Environmental Health Program:
“For the first time, leaders of the Amazonian region have together recognized the importance of the ongoing negotiations of an international instrument to end plastic pollution.
In particular, States called for policies that consider the full life cycle of plastics and highlighted the importance of sustainable plastics production. They also highlighted the need to strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems and the importance of protecting human health from plastic pollution. This is a clear signal that Amazonian countries are ready to support an ambitious and effective plastics treaty that protects traditional knowledge and places people and environmental protection before corporate profits.
Yet, at a time of record temperatures around the world, which highlight the imperative of tackling the intersecting environmental crises of pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change, stronger leadership is needed. The absence of concrete commitments to cease oil and gas exploration — the origin of 99% of plastics — falls short of what is required to confront these crises.”
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Press contact: Lani Furbank, Communications Campaign Specialist | press@ciel.org