Lula: to value the rainforest is to give dignity to those who live in it

In a statement to the press after the conclusion of the series of Amazon Summit meetings, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made a positive assessment of the exchanges with his Latin American partners belonging to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and with the invited countries that also harbor tropical rainforests. Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela, Indonesia, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo will unite in a single voice to negotiate with the world – with greater representation – the climate financing commitments made by rich countries, so that the former may explore the biodiversity of their rainforests and promote the social inclusion of the people who live in them.

» Presidential Declaration
» Joint Communiqué of Developing Forest Countries in Belém
» High resolution photographs (Flickr)

DIGNITY — According to President Lula, denying the climate crisis the world is facing is foolishness, and valuing the Amazon Rainforest is not just keeping it standing, but giving dignity to the nearly 50 million people who live in it. To this end, he added, jobs and income must be created by promoting science, technology and innovation; stimulating socio-bioeconomy; and valuing indigenous peoples and traditional communities and their ancestral knowledge. Lula also stated that it is not the countries that own the rainforest that are in need of money and funding, but nature itself.

"We are going to COP-28 with the objective of telling the rich world that, if they do want to effectively preserve the remaining rainforest, it is necessary to allocate money not only to take care of the forest canopy, but of the people who live down below, and who want to work, study, eat, walk around, and live decent lives. It is by taking care of these people that we are going to take care of the forest", said the president, observing that most of the preserved lands in Brazil are within indigenous territories. According to Lula, this demonstrates that the country already has natural forest inspectors. "All you have to do is respect them and guarantee they have the conditions to lead dignified and decent lives".

Foto Ricardo Stuckert (PR)

PAVING THE WAY — In the press room that was set up specifically for the event that convened over 200 journalists from around the world, the Brazilian president said that the Belém Declaration released on Tuesday (August 8) and the joint communiqué with the invited countries – published this Wednesday – are steps towards a common agenda to pave the way to COP-30. The Conference will take place in the capital of Pará in November 2025.
According to Lula, the countries are going to work together on two fronts: one to create a mechanism that fairly and equitably remunerates the environmental services that tropical rainforests provide to the world; and another to define an international concept of socio-bioeconomy that leads to the certification of products that come from them.

The 2023 Amazon Summit, said Lula, will bear fruit and be remembered as a sustainable development milestone. “What we did was tell the world that we will no longer accept theses that are not put into practice,” he declared, adding that Brazil will continue to value dialogue with civil society and listen to indigenous peoples; to riverside and quilombola people; to women and young people; and to all who fight and risk their lives to preserve the Amazon.

Lula also highlighted that, as well as ensuring protection, it is crucial to expel organized crime and drug and arms trafficking from the rainforest. The President said there will be greater policing on Brazil's extensive dry border and agreements with neighboring countries towards inspection.