The eight countries that share borders with the Amazon basin have emerged from a two-day summit in the Brazilian city of Belém with a commitment to create an alliance to combat deforestation, while agreeing that each country be left to pursue its own conservation goals.
The meeting, the first such gathering in 14 years, stopped short of affirming Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s call for a common goal of ending deforestation by 2030, a policy his own government has already adopted, the BBC reports.
Some 60% of the Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world, lies in Brazil. The other countries at the gathering were Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Lula warned in his opening speech of the ‘severe worsening of the climate crisis’, adding that ‘the challenges of our era, and the opportunities arising from them, demand we act in unison’.
According to the BBC, deforestation in Brazil has fallen dramatically since Lula won the presidency from predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who favoured development over conservation.
The joint statement, named the Belém declaration, said the new alliance would aim to ‘prevent the Amazon from reaching a point of no return’.
It included commitments to enhancing co-operation on issues such as water management, health, sustainable development and common negotiating positions at global climate summits.