📋 Tender Overview
This Wednesday, in the context of the Amazon Summit, the commitment to the preservation of forests was ratified through a Joint Communique of the Developing Forest Countries in Belem.
The document states:
We, the Presidents and Heads of Delegation of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Guyana, Indonesia, Peru, the Republic of the Congo, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Venezuela, meeting in Belém do Pará, on August 9, 2023, We recognize the invaluable contribution of indigenous peoples and local communities as well as women and youth to the conservation of tropical forests. We note that, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR6), "climate change is already affecting tropical forests around the world, including through changes in the distribution of forest biomes, changes in species composition, biomass, pests and diseases, and increased wildfires."
We reaffirm our commitment to the preservation of forests, the reduction of the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity and the search for a just ecological transition, convinced that our forests can be centres of sustainable development and sources of solutions to national and global sustainability challenges, reconciling economic prosperity with the protection of the environment and social welfare, especially of indigenous peoples and local communities, including through the development of innovative mechanisms that will recognize and promote ecosystem functions/services and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. We express our concern about the failure of developed countries to meet their commitments to provide official development assistance equivalent to 0.7% of their gross national income, and to provide $100 billion in climate finance per year in new and additional resources to developing countries, and call on developed countries to meet their climate finance obligations and contribute to the mobilizing $000 billion per year by 200, as set out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, to support the implementation of national biodiversity action plans and strategies through the provision of new, additional, predictable and adequate financial resources.
We also express our concern about the failure of some developed countries to meet their mitigation targets, and reiterate the need for developed nations to take the lead and accelerate the decarbonization of their economies, achieving greenhouse gas emissions neutrality without delay and preferably before 2050. Noting that international cooperation is the most effective way to support our sovereign commitment to reduce the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, we condemn the adoption of measures taken to combat climate change and protect the environment, including unilateral measures, which constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade. We reiterate our understanding that preferential access for forest products to the markets of developed countries will be an important tool for the economic development of developing countries.
We invite other developing countries with tropical forests to engage, in preparation for UNFCCC COP-28 and CBD COP-16 and other relevant international conferences, a dialogue, based on solidarity and cooperation, on the issues outlined in this Communiqué. We also call on other developing countries that hold a significant share of the world's biodiversity to advocate for our countries to exert greater influence on the management of resources for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. We note different initiatives promoted by developing countries relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of forest ecosystems, such as the Trilateral Cooperation on Tropical Forests and Climate Action of Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia, and the initiative, by the Republic of Congo, to host a Summit of the Three Basins of Biodiversity Ecosystems and Tropical Forests.
