Presidents and high-level representatives of the eight nations in the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization. Photo: Filipe Bispo Vale/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Leaders from the eight nations that share the Amazon rainforest promised in a joint statement this week to work towards "deforestation zero," but they did not commit to a roadmap for achieving it.
Driving the news: The leaders of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela met this week to discuss Amazonian conservation — the first such meeting since 2009.
- They announced a joint agreement with 113 provisions, starting with a promise to "combine efforts at the highest level" to set a common agenda for sustainability and conservation.
- They also announced they'll create a police cooperation framework to fight deforesters and poachers, work together to promote connectivity in the Amazon, and create panels for scientific cooperation and for Indigenous peoples to have a direct line with the eight governments for conservation matters.
Yes, but: Climate action organizations like the World Wildlife Fund said the joint declaration does not go far enough.
- Observatório do Clima, a coalition of 78 environmental nonprofits, criticized the governments for not coming to agreements on key matters such as mining and common objectives for reducing deforestation.
- The summit's pact says it's "urgent to set shared goals to fight deforestation" but right now each country can still set up its own target.
- The countries promised to "set up a dialogue about the sustainability of sectors like mining and hydrocarbons" but did not agree, like Colombia had asked, on a road to "decarbonization."
- Illegal mining is rife in the Amazon, with devastating health effects for local communities. Oil exploration plans and drilling continue.
The big picture: The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest, with trees that help absorb the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It has a fifth of all the world's fresh water reserves, and unique flora and fauna.
- Deforestation significantly increased during the last decade, pushed mostly by forest fires, and by people cutting down trees for cattle ranching and soybean crops.
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