MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The world must help Brazil preserve the Amazon, says Lula

Lula wants to convince the world that investing is cheap if it is to keep the forest standing

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Wednesday insisted that “The world must help” his country preserve the Amazon after deforestation in that natural area went down by 33.6% in the first semester of 2023, following Lula's Jan. 1 inauguration.

“We know the responsibility it means to convince the world that investing is cheap if it is to keep the forest standing,” said Lula during breakfast with foreign correspondents at the Planalto Presidential Palace.

The eight member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) are to convene next week for the first time since 2009 to discuss policies to preserve the world's largest rainforest. In this regard, Lula said his government intends to “share with the world's science the research on the region's biodiversity” and seek ways to make it possible to “work without destroying” the biome.

With next week's encounter in the city of Belém on Aug. 8 and 9 serving as a preparation for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 to be held from November 30 in the United Arab Emirates, Lula stressed that “the world needs to see this meeting as a historic framework for the discussion of the climate issue.”

“It will be the first time in 45 years that the presidents of the Amazon countries will meet with the expectation of discussing common policies,” Lula added. It will deal with “how to prevent the forests from continuing to be destroyed,” he also pointed out.

The 77-year-old head of state also explained that the Summit will address the problems facing the biome and the need to find solutions to stop the growth of illegal activities in the region, such as deforestation, mining, and drug trafficking. A joint letter from the presidents is expected at the end of the Summit.

The presidents of Amazonian countries will also welcome other leaders of nations with forests in their territories, including the Democratic Republic of Congo or Indonesia.

Presidents Luis Arce Catacora (Bolivia), Gustavo Petro (Colombia), Irfaan Ali (Guyana), Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela), and Dina Boluarte (Peru) are expected to attend the gathering, while Ecuador's Guillermo Lasso and Suriname's Chan Santokhi have confirmed they shall not be participating of the gathering although their countries will send a delegation to Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon River on the Atlantic Ocean shore.