Led by Brazil, an eight country compromise has been developed in the efforts to conserve the world’s largest rainforest. The agreement is made up of several initiatives that map out aversions to the rampant deforestation in the Amazon. The industrial industry has had a choke hold on the Amazon for decades, severely damaging its rainforests and propelling the planet into further debt with climate change. The Amazon rainforest is a safe haven for thousands of species, a biodiversity hub for the planet. It's also a crucial player in combating any form of climate change as it sequesters GHG and C02 emissions out of the atmosphere; gasses that are the ultimate cause for global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer, and the dangerous increase in surface temperatures.
Over the past century, about 17% of the forest has been razed and an even bigger portion of that degraded. Numerous studies have indicated that if this were to continue as is, tens of thousands of species would disappear, transforming the Amazon into an emitter rather than an absorber. The agreement set the coordinating groundwork for the Amazon basin’s countries—Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. It states that law enforcement is to combat the widespread illegal mining and logging practices, as well as regulate the development funds established for conservation and sustainable employment for the region between banks. The agreement has also established an Amazonian climate-focused scientific panel.
“The Amazon is our passport to a new relationship with the world, a more symmetrical relationship in which our resources will not be exploited for the benefit of a few, but valued and placed at the service of all,” stated Brazil's President, Mr. Lula during the meeting.
The agreement seems promising, but according to Mr. Lula, it fell short of various ambitions wanted to be put forth. Back at the Glasgow Climate Summit in 2021, six Amazon countries pledged to end deforestation in their countries by 2030, a commitment Mr. Lula proposed to Bolivia and Venezuela this year. In turn, Colombia’s President, Gustavo Petro had pushed Mr. Lula to match his pledge of banning all offshore drilling, but unfortunately, Brazil has a project in the works within the Amazon River. In the end, neither proposal was a success.
Environmental international affairs student, Eduardo Viola, believes that this is the most significant step the Amazonian countries have taken towards conservation, but he’s concerned it may not be enough. The written commitments will notably vary among the governments due to preexisting projects and high revenue practices, along with very low chances of implementation outside of Brazil. Many, whose homes are within the three-quarters remaining rainforests, have made conservation a priority for their presidencies and governments to push for environmental protections.
