Lula says summit aims to 'strengthen Amazon countries on the global agenda'

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247 - President Lula (PT) spoke on Tuesday (8) at the opening of the Amazon Summit, which brings together the countries of South America that host the Amazon rainforest within their territories, and stated that the meeting has 'three main purposes: to discuss the sustainable development of the region, strengthen the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, and enhance the role of forest-holding countries in the global agenda'.

"We hadn't met in 14 years," the Brazilian president recalled. "This is the first time we are doing so here in Pará, and it is the first time in the context of a severe worsening of the climate crisis. It has never been so urgent to resume and expand this cooperation. The challenges of our era and the emerging opportunities demand joint action. That's why I announced the holding of this summit even before taking office," he declared.

Next, Lula outlined the objectives of the meeting. "First, we will discuss and promote a new vision of sustainable and inclusive development in the region, combining environmental protection with the generation of dignified jobs and the defense of the rights of those who live in the Amazon. We will need to reconcile environmental protection with social inclusion, the promotion of scientific technology and innovation, the stimulation of the local economy, the fight against international crime, and the empowerment of indigenous peoples and traditional communities and their ancestral knowledge. Secondly, we have measures to strengthen the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, a legacy built over nearly half a century and representing the world's only block born with a socio-environmental mission, expanding and deepening our cooperation, coordination, and integration initiatives among OTCA members. We can ensure that our vision of sustainable development will have a long and broad reach."

"Finally, we will strengthen the position of forest-holding countries on the global agenda, covering issues ranging from addressing climate change to reforming the international financial system. The fact that we are all gathered here—governments, civil society, academia, states and municipalities, parliamentarians, and leaders—reflects our intention to work towards these three major objectives. There are many 'Amazons'. Represented here are the 'Amazons' of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Together, these 'Amazons' encompass many others, from the forests and cities to the workers, women, and youth, from indigenous peoples and traditional communities to culture, science, and ancestral knowledge."

Read Lula's full statement:

It is a great joy to reunite with the leaders of the countries of South America to address the Amazon, this common heritage of our nations.

Since the Amazon Cooperation Treaty was signed in 1978, the heads of state have only met three times: in 1989, 1992, and 2009. All of them in Manaus.

It has been fourteen years since we last met. This is the first time we are doing so here in Pará, and the first time in the context of a severe worsening of the climate crisis.

It has never been so urgent to resume and expand this cooperation. The challenges of our era, and the opportunities that arise, demand joint action.

That is why I announced the holding of this summit even before taking office, when I was at COP27 in Egypt.

Today we gather with three main purposes.

First, we will discuss and promote a new vision of sustainable and inclusive development in the region, combining environmental protection with the generation of dignified jobs and the defense of the rights of those who live in the Amazon.

We will need to reconcile environmental protection with social inclusion, the promotion of science, technology, and innovation, the stimulation of the local economy, the fight against international crime, and the empowerment of indigenous peoples and traditional communities and their ancestral knowledge.

Secondly, there are measures to strengthen the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO).

ACTO is a legacy built over almost half a century and represents the world's only block born with a socio-environmental mission.

By expanding and deepening our cooperation, coordination, and integration initiatives among ACTO members, we can ensure that our vision of sustainable development will have a long and broad reach.

Finally, we will strengthen the position of forest-holding countries on the global agenda, covering issues ranging from addressing climate change to reforming the international financial system.

The fact that we are all gathered here – governments, civil society, academia, states and municipalities, parliamentarians, and leaders – reflects our firm intention to work towards these three major objectives.

There are many Amazons. Represented here, in this session, are the Amazons of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

Together, these Amazons encompass many others: the Amazon of the forest and cities; the Amazon of workers, women, and youth; the Amazon of indigenous peoples and traditional communities; the Amazon of culture, science, and ancestral knowledge.

That is why, to begin our work, we will listen to the Secretary-General of ACTO, representatives of social movements, local governments, and parliaments from our countries, who bring us the voices of these diverse Amazons.

The colleagues who will speak next will bring important messages from the plenary sessions of the Amazon Dialogues that brought together nearly thirty thousand people from across the region here in Belém between the 4th and 6th of this month.

In addition to the plenaries, hundreds of events organized by civil society discussed the region and the biome in all its complexity.

I invite everyone to listen to them very carefully.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Comrade Gustavo Petro and the Colombian government for promoting the Technical-Scientific Meeting of the Amazon in early July in Leticia, which brought very relevant contributions to our Belém Summit.

All these multiple contributions give substance and spirit to the Belém Declaration, a document negotiated among our eight countries, proposing an ambitious set of actions for the region.

Dear friends,

I propose the following organization of the work this morning:

• first, the Secretary-General of ACTO will have 10 minutes to inform us about the current situation of the organization;
• next, we will have six interventions (five minutes each) corresponding to the plenary sessions held within the framework of the Amazon Dialogues;

1. Plenary I — Manuela Salomé Villafuerte Merino (Ecuador): participation and protection of territories, activists, civil society, and peoples of the forests and waters in the sustainable development of the Amazon. Eradication of slavery in the region.
2. Plenary II — Pablo Neri (Brazil): health, sovereignty, and food and nutritional security in the Amazon region: emergency actions and structural policies.
3. Plenary III — Pablo Solón (Bolivia): how to envision the future of the Amazon based on science, technology, innovation, academic research, and energy transition.
4. Plenary IV — Ruth Consuelo Chaparro (Colombia): climate change, agroecology, and the socio-bioeconomies of the Amazon: sustainable management and new production models for regional development.
5. Plenary V — Marciely Tupari (Brazil): the indigenous peoples of the Amazons: a new inclusive project for the region.
6. Plenary VI — Eslin Mata Landaeta (Venezuela): black Amazons.

Afterwards, we will have remarks from the President of the Amazonian Parliament (PARLAMAZ), Senator Nelsinho Trad, for five minutes.

The conclusion of this first part of the Summit will be given by the Mayor of Belém, Edmilson Rodrigues, who will also have five minutes to speak as a representative of the Coalition of Amazonian Local Authorities.

Next, we will take a break to take the official photo and resume the work only with the presence of the member countries of ACTO.

We will resume the work with a five-minute presentation by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Ambassador Mauro Vieira, on the outcomes of the ministerial segment held yesterday (August 7).

Following that, each head of state will have up to twenty minutes to make their remarks in the following order:

• Brazil
• Bolivia
• Colombia
• Peru
• Venezuela
• Guyana

The Chancellors of Ecuador and Suriname will have ten minutes each.

After these interventions, we will suspend the work for lunch here on the premises of the convention center.

Thank you very much.

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