Lula: Amazon cannot be seen only as a sanctuary – 07/08/2023 – Environment

President Lula (PT) once again criticized the posture of rich countries in relation to the financing of actions against climate change, pointed out that the rest of the world was unaware of the Amazon and said that a tropical forest cannot be seen “only as a sanctuary ecological”.

Lula also called for resources and technology transfer for an “ecological transition”. “[Essa transição] it cannot be based on the predatory exploitation of natural resources or justify new protectionisms. In short, it cannot serve as a facade for neocolonialism. Decarbonization should not deepen inequality between countries,” said the president.

The head of the Brazilian Executive was this Saturday (8) in Leticia, a Colombian city close to Tabatinga (AM), in the region of the upper Solimões River. He participated in the closing of the Amazon technical-scientific meeting, at the invitation of the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro.

The two presidents held a bilateral meeting and participated in a plenary with civil society representatives, when they heard suggestions on actions for the conservation of the Amazon.

Lula was accompanied by the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva; the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira; special advisor Celso Amorim; and his wife, Janja.

In addition to the scientific meeting, Leticia also hosted a meeting for diplomatic negotiations on an agreement to protect the Amazon.

The proposals were discussed by diplomatic representatives of the eight countries that make up ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization): Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador and Bolivia.

The diplomatic representatives negotiated the joint declaration to be adopted at the Amazon Summit, scheduled to take place on August 8 and 9, in Belém. The summit should bring together the presidents of ACTO countries.

In the speech read by Lula, the president stated that the COP30, the UN climate change conference, will be a “valuable opportunity for the world to discover the true Amazon”. Belém will host the event in 2025.

“Many people do not realize that most of the Amazon population is urban. Of the 26 million people who live in the Brazilian Amazon, 12 million live in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. These people need adequate infrastructure, education,” he said. the PT.

“The tropical forest cannot be seen only as an ecological sanctuary. The world needs to be concerned with the right to live well for the inhabitants of the Amazon, after all, sustainable development has three inseparable dimensions: the economy, the social and the environment,” he said. .

Lula has again criticized rich countries that do not fulfill the promise of financing actions against climate change, a recurrent speech by the president since the beginning of his third term.

“It was them [os países ricos] that have historically emitted the most greenhouse gases. Whoever has the largest forest reserves and the greatest biodiversity deserves greater representation,” he said.

Lula also criticized the lack of representation of Amazonian countries – such as Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador – in international financing mechanisms, such as the Global Fund for the Environment, originating from the World Bank.

“Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador are obliged to share a chair at the bottom, while developed countries, such as the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, each occupy a chair. Global governance needs to change and be reformed,” he said. .