Sawt Falasteen - South America seeks roadmap to save Amazon at 'landmark' summit

Lula vowed to seek ambitious pledges to stop the destruction of the world's biggest rainforest at the two-day meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) in the northern city of Belem.

"This is a landmark meeting. It will mark a turning point in the history of protecting the Amazon and the green transition," the veteran leftist said before opening the gathering at the mouth of the Amazon river.

It is the first summit in 14 years for the eight-nation group, set up in 1995 by the South American countries that share the Amazon basin: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

Home to an estimated 10 percent of Earth's biodiversity, 50 million people and hundreds of billions of trees, the vast Amazon is a vital carbon sink, curbing global warming.

But scientists warn the destruction of the rainforest is pushing it dangerously close to a "tipping point," beyond which trees would die off and release carbon rather than absorb it, with catastrophic consequences for the climate.

The region's countries are determined "not to let the Amazon reach a point of no return," Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva told a ministerial meeting ahead of the summit.

Lula wants the summit to strengthen the ACTO and produce a joint declaration with a bold action plan to stop deforestation.

The summit is also something of a dress rehearsal for the 2025 UN climate talks, which Belem will host.

- Brazil, Colombia: competing priorities -

Deforestation in the Amazon is driven mainly by cattle ranching, though it is fueled by a murky mix of corruption, land-grabbing and organized crime whose tentacles extend to the illegal trafficking of drugs, arms, timber and gold.

In Brazil, the world's top exporter of beef and soy and home to 60 percent of the Amazon, the destruction has already wiped out around one-fifth of the rainforest.

Environmental groups are pressuring all eight countries to adopt Brazil's pledge to eradicate illegal deforestation by 2030, though Brazilian officials have indicated those negotiations may need more time.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro is meanwhile pushing other countries to adhere to his pledge to ban all new oil exploration -- a touchy subject for oil-rich Venezuela and also Brazil, whose state-run oil company, Petrobras, is controversially seeking to explore new offshore blocs at the mouth of the Amazon river itself.

Ecuador is due to hold a referendum this month on whether to stop drilling for crude on a strategic oil block located within the Yasuni Indigenous reservation, the source of 12 percent of the country's oil output.

Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad for her part called for the final declaration to include a goal of preserving 80 percent of the Amazon by 2025, in line with Indigenous groups' demands.

Brazil is also calling for the summit to create an international police task force for the region and a scientific research group modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the advisory board to the UN climate talks.

- Lula test -

Lula, Petro, Bolivian President Luis Arce, and Peru's Dina Boluarte were all present for the summit.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, absent due to an ear infection, sent Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, while Ecuador, Guyana and Surinam were represented by high-level officials.

The summit is a key test for Lula, who previously served as president from 2003 to 2010 and returned to office in January vowing "Brazil is back" in the fight against climate change, after four years of surging destruction in the Amazon under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

The summit "should deliver concrete results if the region is serious about becoming a leader in climate action," said US-based activist group Avaaz.

Indigenous groups -- whose protected reservations are crucial buffers against the destruction of the world's forests, according to experts -- urged South American leaders to take bold actions.

"The presidents here and around the world need to hear us," said iconic Brazilian Indigenous chief Raoni.

"If they don't stop deforestation, we're going to face far bigger problems."

D.Khalil--SF-PST