Put in the limelight on the socio-environmental agenda, the Amazon region should be one of the most debated topics at the 28th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP 28, to be held between November 30th and December 12th, this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The countries that share the Amazon biome (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela) are expected to present a joint position to the other heads of state.
This was the decision after the “Amazon Summit”, held in Belém (PA) on August 8th and 9th, when the presidents of the eight countries met to discuss common problems and solutions. The final document, entitled "Declaration of Belém", determined that these eight South American nations be united during COP 28 to support Belém’s bid to host the COP 30, in 2025, among other common interests.
"I believe the region should bring ‘a voice’ to the conference that is not just that of the heads of state, but also a very strong presence from the original peoples, the riverside populations – those we consider the peoples of the forest...", comments the professor Mário Almeida, economist and coordinator of the International Relations course at the University of Amazonia (Unama).
The COP - acronym for Conference of the Parties - also became known as the United Nations Conference on Climate Change and had its first edition in 1995 in Germany. Since then, the United Nations (UN) promotes an annual meeting with the aim of bringing countries together and signing commitments that can potentially change the direction of global public policies. In addition to meetings of heads of state and diplomats, the event counts on a broad participation from social movements, researchers and non-governmental organizations, engaged in debates, lectures and activism actions. It is a space to exchange experiences and think about solutions for the climate in a global range.
"At COP 28, we need to envisage a forest concept that goes beyond the trees themselves. This idea was, somehow included, in the 'Declaration of Belém'. We have to think of the forest as a set of interconnections of living beings. it is a very interesting perspective for the countries to take to the conference", reflects professor Almeida.
HOSTING
Even before it starts, this year's COP, can already be considered a kickoff for the 2025 edition to be hosted in Belém. It is the first time that the Amazon region will welcome the conference and the choice must be formalized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Dubai.
The Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and the Governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho (MDB), have already articulated partnerships with Ahmed Al Jaber, the President of COP 28. Lula and Helder already had bilateral meetings with Al Jaber during the “Amazon Summit”. Lula highlighted the importance of expanding social participation at the conference and Helder signed a cooperation agreement between Dubai and Belém to join forces around the 2025 edition.
"We’ve exchanged information, experiences and challenges to be prepared for the most extraordinary climate change event in Brazil and the world in 2025. I told him that the city of Dubai is prepared, but if, in one hand, Belém still has many challenges ahead, on the other, we have the Amazon rainforest that puts us in a distinguished position", pointed out Helder, on the occasion.
A single pavilion will be able to bring together the eight countries of the region
Possibly, this time, the Pan-Amazonian countries will have their own space to represent their unity, as African countries and some nations that share the Mediterranean Sea did last year. Professor Mário Almeida prospects that this environment of commitment should arise on behalf of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), which brings together the eight countries and which was responsible for conducting the “Amazon Summit” in Belém.
"We realized that, individually, we are fragile. I think the world is moving towards overcoming the ideas of unipolarity, by which one may govern the rest. We live in a very different world, regarding a multilateral point of view. That is, thinking about different poles of power and the interrelationship between different actors", observes the professor. “Creating an ACTO space would represent the sense of synergy among the countries sharing the biome brought by the Declaration of Belém”. He points out.
INTEGRATION
At COP 27, Brazil had three front lines: the stand of the Consórcio Interestadual da Amazônia Legal [Interstate Consortium of the Legal Amazon], the pavilion of Ministério do Meio Ambiente [Ministry of the Environment] and the Brazil Climate Action Hub, the latter made up of a group of environmentalists, scientists and quilombolas, among others, that composed a separate delegation from the federal government to bring its main concerns to the conference.
For the Amazon, it was a moment to establish partnerships and attract investments to strengthen environmental preservation. The region was the focus of Lula's speeches, who, at that moment, had been elected for a third term as the President of the Republic.
This year, Brazil regains an integrated representation without its exclusive space in the Climate Action Hub, as it used to be until 2018. The information was released by the Clima Info Institute, one of the responsible parties for the initiative, justifying that, now, we experience a new political moment, in which civil society and the federal government can come together, even if there are disagreements. There is still no information about how the Amazon Consortium's participation will be this year. (A.M.)
Rich countries are under pressure to help the most vulnerable nations
The topics listed in the “Declaration of Belém” should guide the speeches of Pan-Amazonian presidents, such as the need to think about a model of sustainable development that respects the forest peoples and that has the products of biodiversity as an economic base. "I think that the biggest issue of funding, budget flow, who will receive the funding and who will implement it, must be on the agenda", bets professor Mário Almeida.
This was the main topic at COP 27 last year, but gaps remain to be filled, therefore, there is an expectation that negotiations will be resumed. At the time, an unprecedented agreement was signed to provide "loss and damage" financing to vulnerable countries hit by climate disasters. In the final text of the conference – a document formalizing the decisions taken by the participants – governments established new financing arrangements, as well as a fund aimed to help developing countries to pay losses and damages.
The central issue is about developed countries taking responsibility and compensating for impacts suffered by vulnerable and developing countries, since the richest ones have historically polluted the most and now the most affected are the poorest ones, along with those countries in more susceptible geographically positions, such as islands or archipelagos (more likely to be affected by the rise in sea level). Some of these places run the risk of having their territory completely covered by ocean water if actions to combat climate change are not pressingly implemented. However, how much should be donated, who should receive this money and what the control mechanisms for this transfer should be, remain under debate. The expectation of environmentalists is that at COP 28 a more complete agreement will be formalized to deal with the gaps left in the last edition.
"I believe that we will finish the COP with progresses, especially regarding criteria for resource prioritization and overcoming the challenges of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement," evaluates Victor Salviati, the Superintendent of Innovation and Institutional Development at the Fundação Amazônia Sustentável (FAS) [Amazon Sustainable Foundation]. The mentioned article refers to the market mechanisms necessary for the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Salviati believes that it will also be a step further in consolidating the alliance among the Pan-Amazon group. "I hope they can advocate for agendas together. The seed of unification within this block was planted at the 'Amazon Summit' and should be increasingly consolidated until the Belém COP," says Salviati.
DEFORESTATION
"There are other things on the table for COP 28, such as the regulation of how tropical forests will be able to mitigate climate change", warns researcher Philip Fearnside, from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (Inpa) [National Institute for Research in the Amazon]. According to him, the issue has been discussed since the 2007 COP, held in Indonesia. The Asian country, the Amazon and the Congos concentrate 52% of the world's native tropical forests.
At the time, the need to have "measurable, transparent and verifiable commitments for the reduction of emissions caused by the deforestation of tropical forests" was agreed, but, so far, there is no formal commitment at a global level.
Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a trilateral agreement at COP 27, known as "OPEC" [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries] or "Alliance of Forests", for cooperation on the environmental agenda and the protection of tropical forests. During the "Amazon Summit", the partnership was extended to all Pan-Amazonian countries and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (the country that holds the presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States).
In the new cooperation document, the issue of climate finance under the spotlight again, with the demand that developed countries fulfill the commitments announced in previous moments, such as the mobilization of US$ 200 billion per year, until 2030, targeted by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework for the implementation of national biodiversity action plans and strategies.
ENERGY
This year's COP should also address the energy transition, the idea that the use of fossil fuels should be abandoned (petroleum and its derivatives, mineral coal and natural gas) to migrate to renewable sources (solar and wind energy, for example). "Here we have a problem that the 'Declaration of Belém' does not contain a regulation for energy sources from fossil fuels. This issue was not very clear in the document", points out Almeida.
Fearnside highlights that pressure from civil society, environmentalists and researchers must be incisive concerning this topic. Mainly considering that the host country, the United Arab Emirates, is the largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). "A concern is how much this influence of the country and COP 28 funders may impact on the decisions", he says. (A.M.)
