2023-08-09 06:56:22
2023-08-09 14:56 24 hours at the corner of Lianhe News Network Photo/European News Agency
【2023. 8. 9 Brazil】
Are the 8 countries serious regarding protecting the rainforest?Amazon rainforest “Belem Declaration” fails to reach “zero deforestation” consensus
“8 countries in the Amazon declared to protect the rainforest…but they might not reach a consensus on ‘zero deforestation’.” Hosted by Brazil“Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization”At the summit, on August 8, all 8 participating countries around the Amazon rainforest jointly issued the “Belem Declaration”, declaring that they will work together to implement many common environmental policies and strengthen regional cooperation in order to protect the damaged “lungs of the earth” Amazon rainforest. . However, the 8 countries failed to reach a consensus on the issue of rainforest deforestation – Brazilian President Lula hoped to promote the 8 countries to jointly support “zero deforestation” in 2030, but failed in the end. implement. What are the specific contents of the “Belem Declaration”? What challenges and opportunities is the Amazon rainforest facing?
The “Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization”, formed by eight countries surrounding the Amazon rainforest, held a two-day climate summit in Belém, the capital of the state of Pará, Brazil on August 8. The meeting was chaired by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the eight participating countries include Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.
At the meeting, countries jointly issued the “Belem Declaration”, agreeing to a series of common environmental policies and strengthening regional cooperation, such as strengthening rainforest management regulations, establishing an international police cooperation center, jointly combating illegal air transportation in rainforest areas, and establishing relevant Financial mechanisms to promote the sustainable development of rainforest areas, calling on developed countries to honor the commitment of US$100 billion in cash assistance to developing countries to deal with climate change, etc., but still failed to reach a consensus on the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Brazil hosts the “Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization” summit. On August 8, all 8 participating countries around the Amazon rainforest jointly issued…
The reason for the summit is that in recent decades, unregulated livestock farming, illegal mining, deforestation, land reclamation, and oil exploration have caused the loss of more than 10% of the rainforest area – and most of the destroyed rainforest areas are located in Brazil (two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil).
Lula, who has a strong left-wing color, promised in his election platform that Brazil would return to the battlefield to deal with climate change when he ran for president in 2022, so as to face the former Brazilian president and Lula’s opponent Bolsonaro ( Jair Bolsonaro, during the tenure of the far-right Bolsonaro, his attitude towards the protection of the Amazon rainforest was bad, and the damage to the Amazon region increased rapidly.
After Lula took office, he promoted the unity of the countries in the Amazon region and determined to achieve “zero deforestation” of the rainforest by 2030. In July 2023, the amount of deforestation in the rainforest was reduced by 66% compared with the same month in 2022. “Zero deforestation” is also a major agreement reached at the 26th United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in 2021, when Brazil was also one of the signatories. At this summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Lula also hopes to promote the eight participating countries to jointly support the goal and policy of “zero deforestation”.
However, the joint statement issued at the summit on the 8th stated that the solution to the deforestation of the rainforest is to form an alliance to fight once morest the destruction of the rainforest. It is up to each country to decide on its own goals to curb deforestation and implement them individually—because each country sets its own goals, The goal of “zero deforestation” cannot be fully implemented in the Amazon rainforest, and there will be differences in policies depending on the country’s borders, so that the deforestation phenomenon will continue.
During the summit, Brazilian indigenous peoples demonstrated outside the venue to demand stronger rainforest protection.Photo / European News Agency
Archyde.comIt is pointed out that the failure of eight participating countries to reach an agreement on preventing deforestation has worried scientists and environmental groups, except that the scientific community believes that the pace of policy-making actions is too slow to stop the increasingly serious impact of global warming in time; the environment Astrini, a member of the group “Climate Observatory” (Climate Observatory), also said: “We are breaking heat records every day. In this case, the eight Amazon countries must reach a consensus of ‘zero deforestation’.” La and other state leaders did not publicly respond or comment on the Belém Declaration.
Among the 8 participating countries, only Bolivia and Venezuela did not sign the COP26 “zero deforestation” agreement in 2021. Archyde.com also quoted a source from the Brazilian government as pointing out that the destruction of the rainforest in Bolivia is increasing day by day. Take this question with a grain of salt.
The last Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization summit was held in 2019. When Lula was interviewed before the meeting, Ben was highly looking forward to the meeting. At that time, he said: “I think the world needs to regard the Belém meeting as a milestone… this time The conference is a great opportunity to show the world what we want to do.”
《BBC》According to reports, this summit is quite a warm-up for the COP30 held in 2025; it is worth noting that the location of the summit in Belém is of special significance in itself-the state of Para, where Belém is located, is the Brazilian rainforest deforestation. area with the highest rate.Due to the serious problem of overcrowding in the local area, Para State has recently become a“Carbon credit”development center.
Burnt Amazon Rainforest.Photo / European News Agency
A carbon credit represents the right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases. Many companies will purchase carbon emission rightsCarbon tradingso as to obtain carbon emission credits, and the funds paid by companies to purchase carbon credits can be used for carbon reduction projects.
The carbon credit market in the Amazon rainforest is huge, and the World Bank estimates that it is worth as much as 210 billion U.S. dollars per year. However, whether the large amount of money in the carbon credit market is really invested in the local state of Para is still questionable——Local resident Robson (Robson Gonçalves Machado) said: “There are many doubts. In the area where I live, carbon credits worth millions of reals (Brazilian currency) are sold, but the revenue is not invested locally.”
“BBC” also reported that in the island of Marajó near Belém, although some residents are willing to cooperate with carbon credit companies, and believe that this is the only way to ensure the sustainability of the rainforest, there are also harassment by carbon credit companies, The incident of forcing people to invest in related projects without providing detailed information on investment returns led to the intervention of the Pará State Prosecutor.
Despite Lula’s promise to regulate the carbon credit market and eliminate the chaos, the Amazon market remains largely unregulated—and this underscores the administrative inadequacy of the Amazonian government, where locals struggle to access the carbon credits they deserve. Private institutions, including carbon credit companies, are in the middle of nowhere when public services are guaranteed.
A view of the Amazon rainforest.Photo / European News Agency Brazil in the past 24 hours
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