JAKARTA: The world’s biggest rainforest nations Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) formally launched a climate partnership to work together on conservation. All three nations have vast tropical rainforests threatened by logging and agriculture.
“Representatives from Indonesia, Brazil and DRC announced a tropical forest cooperation and climate action in the Egyptian COP27 [climate summit] side event on November 7, and agreed to sign a joint statement today,” Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in a statement on Tuesday.
The agreement calls for all three to be compensated by the international community for reducing deforestation, focusing on joint issues such as access to climate finance and the price of a ton of carbon in the carbon-credit market. The statement said the countries “have a common interest in collaborating to increase the value of their tropical forests, and to ensure that these tropical forests continue to benefit the climate and people.”
Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to pledge a reversal of the environmental policies of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro to protect the Amazon rainforest. The 77-year-old promised on the campaign trail to work toward zero deforestation.
The DRC, which is home to 60 percent of the vast Congo Basin rainforest, has faced criticism for launching an auction in July for oil and gas blocks, some of which are in sensitive areas. But the country’s Environment Minister Eve Bazaida Mazudi said the three nations can offer solutions to climate change together.
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon has hit a new, alarming milestone, government data showed, as environmentalists warned a “frantic race towards devastation” is under way before a government transition that is set to usher in more protection for the rainforest.
Preliminary government satellite data collected by space research agency Inpe and released on Friday showed that approximately 904sq km (349sq miles) were cleared in the region in October, the highest for the month since tracking began in 2015. From January to October, 9,494sq km (3,666sq miles) were cleared, equal to an area more than 12 times the size of New York City and also a record for the period, exceeding the previous high set in 2019 by 12.7 percent.
Incoming Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is set to take office on January 1, has promised to bolster environmental safeguards and funding for state agencies tasked with protecting the Amazon.
The rainforest, which is critical to the global fight against climate change, has seen years of increased deforestation under the administration of Lula’s predecessor, outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.
The far-right former army captain had pushed for more mining and other development projects in the Amazon, saying they would stimulate the economy. But rights groups accused Bolsonaro of gutting Brazil’s environmental and Indigenous protection agencies, leading to an uptick in deforestation and violence across the sprawling region. –Agencies
