Lula: Amazon Summit’s Belém Declaration to be in-depth action plan

Brazilian President Lula said Tuesday (Aug. 8) that the Belém Declaration, to be adopted by the heads of state of the Amazon countries, will be a detailed and comprehensive action plan for the sustainable development of the Amazon. In a speech at the Amazon Summit in Belém, Lula said the solutions are based on science and knowledge produced in the region.

“The presidential declaration of this summit shows that what we started in Leticia and now consolidate in Belém is not just a political message: it is a detailed and comprehensive action plan for sustainable development in the Amazon,” he said.

“The Amazon is not and cannot be treated as a great storehouse of wealth. It is an incubator of knowledge and technologies that we have barely begun to fathom. In it, we can find solutions to countless issues of humanity, from curing diseases to more sustainable trade. The forest is not a void to be occupied, or a treasure to be plundered. It is a flowerbed of possibilities that need to be cultivated,” the president declared.

In July, Lula was in Leticia, Colombia, for the technical-scientific gathering of Amazon nations. At the time, he advocated strengthening the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and other social control mechanisms, such as the Amazon Parliament, as well as scientific and forest monitoring bodies guiding the development of public policies.

The Amazon Summit brings together member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), created in 1978 - Ricardo Stuckert/PR

On Tuesday, the president stressed that, in addition to caring for the environment and biodiversity of the Amazon, the 50 million people living in its territory must be taken care of.

The government is also committed to eliminating deforestation by 2030, betting on an economic transition to green industrialization, socio-bioeconomics, and renewable energy in the region. Restoration of degraded areas and food production through family farming and traditional communities will also be encouraged.

“In order to solve the region’s problems, we need to recognize it is also a place of historical socio-economic shortcomings. We cannot conceive the preservation of the Amazon without addressing the multiple structural problems facing it. The Amazon is rich in water resources, but many locations still lack drinking water. Despite its great biodiversity, millions of people in the region still go hungry. Criminal rings are now organized transnationally, raising insecurity throughout the region,” Lula argued.

The Amazon Summit brings together member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), created in 1978. The group has not gathered for 14 years. Formed by Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, ACTO forms Latin America’s only socio-environmental bloc. Also invited to the summit were French Guiana—which holds Amazon territories—Indonesia, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—countries with large tropical forests.

The president also highlighted society’s broad participation in the debates around the forest. Before the international summit, the Amazon Dialogues were held, aimed at allowing members of society to draft their own proposals.

This afternoon, in addition to the Belém Declaration, to be signed by the presidents, a document built in these dialogues will be presented to “push us to work harder” for the Amazon, Lula said.