Share this on social media
Amazon countries sign forest pact, promising to coordinate disaster response
(Reuters News, 6 Sep 2019) Seven Amazonian countries signed a pact to protect the world's largest tropical forest, amid recent fires that torched thousands of square miles of the jungle.
Seven Amazonian countries on Friday signed a pact to protect the world's largest tropical forest via disaster response coordination and satellite monitoring, amid recent fires that torched thousands of square miles of the jungle.
The presidents of Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, the vice-president of Suriname and the natural resource minister of Guyana attended the one-day summit in the jungle city of Leticia in southern Colombia.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro participated by video link, while his foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, attended in person.
"This meeting will live on as a coordination mechanism for the presidents that share this treasure - the Amazon," Colombian President Ivan Duque said at the signing, adding the countries will meet again at the United Nations Climate Change conference in December.
"Goodwill alone is not enough anymore," Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra added.
The countries will create a natural disaster network so they can better cooperate in the face of events like large-scale fires, the pact said.
Reuters News, 6 Sep 2019: Amazon countries sign forest pact, promising to coordinate disaster response
