Amazon Basin Countries Fall Short of Deforestation Goal at Summit

The eight nations sharing the Amazon basin—Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela—have not met a collective objective to halt deforestation, leading each country to pursue individual conservation targets. Representatives from these countries convened in Belem, Brazil for a two-day summit on deforestation, the first of its kind in 14 years.

The joint declaration issued, known as the Belem Declaration, established a new alliance to address deforestation but allowed each nation to pursue its distinct conservation goals. The alliance aims to prevent the Amazon from reaching a critical ecological threshold.

The declaration also committed to enhanced cooperation in areas such as water management, health, sustainable development, and unified stances in global climate summits. Despite these efforts, differences in opinions were evident during the summit.