The Amazon is home to the world’s largest rainforest, with 10% of all plant and animal species on the planet. It is also home to 50 million people, including 400 indigenous peoples who speak 300 different languages. The region contains the largest freshwater reserve on the planet, including a veritable underground ocean. Continental in size, it occupies 40% of South America and, were it a country, it would stand in the seventh position in the world.
Tropical forests are more than just ecological sanctuaries; the rights of their inhabitants to a dignified life must also be ensured, respecting the three inseparable dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. A just economic-ecological transition requires development cooperation, supported by adequate resources and technology transfer.
On August 8th, heads of government and representatives of state parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela) met in Belém, Brazil, to build a new and common agenda for the sustainable development of the Amazon. The Belém Declaration lists a set of commitments and actions to address multiple challenges facing the region.
In this context, the Brazilian Embassy in Berlin, the embassies of other state parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, public institutions and non-governmental organizations will hold between the 11th and the 15th of September multi-sector events focused on discussions about tangible solutions for the Amazon and the role of international cooperation in meeting those solutions.
