Brazil, Congo and Indonesia announce environmental cooperation agreement

Representatives from Brazil, Congo, and Indonesia announced on Monday (Nov. 14) a trilateral agreement to deepen cooperation on the environmental agenda and protect tropical forests.

The “Alliance of Forests” was announced during the G20 summit, a group of the 20 largest economies in the world, held in Bali, Indonesia.

The three countries concentrate the largest tropical green area in the world.

The agreement foresees cooperation for the preservation of forests with incentives for a sustainable bio-economy and projects for recovering degraded ecosystems.

It also talks about financing mechanisms “to add value to the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of forests and to engage the private sector, indigenous peoples, and local communities.

“We emphasize the importance of strengthening efforts to facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and nationally, to promote sustainable development and the sustainable production and consumption of commodities that act for the mutual benefit of countries and that do not lead to deforestation and land degradation,” said the communiqué signed jointly by the countries.

The resources should be discussed during the next round of negotiations at the Biodiversity Conference, scheduled to be held in Montreal, Canada, in December of this year.

At the meeting, the new bloc will formalize a series of actions for developed countries to commit to the goal of allocating US$100 billion per year by 2030 for environmentally-oriented projects in developing countries.

The document was signed by the Brazilian Ambassador to Indonesia, José Amir da Costa Dornelles, representing the Ministry of Environment.

The negotiations started in 2021 during the COP26 (26th United Nations Climate Conference) in Glasgow, Scotland. On that occasion, Brazil, Indonesia, and Congo created the “Forest Power on Climate Action” initiative.

During the COP27, which runs until Friday (Nov. 18) in Egypt, the alliance received the informal nickname of “Forest OPEC” in reference to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Environmentalists criticized the allusion to fossil fuel exploitation.