The “Belem Declaration” was announced by the leaders from the eight countries across the Amazon, including Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela after the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) conference.
- ACTO is an international organisation “aimed at the promotion of sustainable development of the Amazon Basin”.
Key points
- The two-day summit was held in the Brazilian city of Belem on August 8-9.
- The members failed to agree on the goal to protect the rainforest at the ACTO summit.
- Despite disagreements among nations, there have been encouraging signs of increased regional cooperation amid growing global recognition of the Amazon’s importance in arresting climate change.
- The members of the ACTO sought to chart a common course on how to combat climate change, hoping a united front would give them a major voice in global talks.
- The two-day summit reinforces Brazil President’s strategy to leverage global concern for Amazon’s preservation.
- The “Belem Declaration didn’t include shared commitments to zero deforestation by 2030. Brazil and Colombia have already made those commitments.
- The Amazon stretches across an area twice the size of India. Two-thirds of it lie in Brazil, with seven other countries and one territory share the remaining third.
- Governments have historically viewed it as an area to be colonized and exploited, with little regard for sustainability or the rights of its Indigenous peoples.
