From this August 8 to 9, the Amazon Summit will be held, in Bethlehem, capital of the northern brazilian state of Pará, with the aim of joining efforts and strengthening cooperation between countries to propose initiatives and projects necessary for the sustainable development of the area.
According to a note from Prensa Latina, the meeting was called by the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who wants the Amazonian countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela) to consolidate a unified position on the preservation of the biome for present it at the next world climate summit (COP28), next November.
In addition to the Amazon States, representatives from Indonesia, France, Norway and Germany are expected.
Representatives of social movements, the productive sector, environmentalists and indigenous peoples await with expectation the start of the Amazon Summit.
Fourth meeting on the Amazon
This new summit on the Amazon will be the fourth meeting of the group, meetings provided for in the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (OTCA), signed on July 3, 1978.
It should be noted that one of the objectives of the meeting is to strengthen ACTO, based in Brazil.
Likewise, it seeks to create support conditions for the countries of the region in carrying out initiatives and projects necessary for the sustainable development of the Amazon.
Belém Declaration
As a prelude to the meeting, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Environment are fine-tuning the details of the so-called Declaration of Belém on Monday, which will initially consist of some 130 points and will include a plan to preserve the so-called lungs of the planet.
The region covers 6,3 million square kilometers, encompassing the largest hydrographic basin in the world, and is home to 10% of all the world's biodiversity. Of this heritage, about 60% is located in Brazilian territory.
Brazil prepared a draft declaration, which was submitted to the scrutiny of various government bodies, said the note.
"From there, we passed (the document) on to the other seven (Amazonian) countries, and the minutes were significantly modified, because now the minutes are for all eight (countries)," said Gisela Padovan, Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Union document: COP-28
With this event, President Lula da Silva intends to prepare, "for the first time, a joint document of all the countries that have forests so that we can arrive united at COP-28 in the United Arab Emirates."
The hope is "to have a serious discussion with rich countries, which since 2009 promised to release $100 billion to create a fund to help maintain the rainforest and preserve biodiversity. If it has happened, it's been so scattered because no one has noticed. We're going to keep collecting."
