Three major rainforest countries have agreed to work together to combat deforestation and protect biodiversity. However, they did not form a concrete alliance to safeguard carbon sinks. The announcement was made during the Three Basins summit in the Congo Republic, which brought together presidents, NGOs, technical experts, and finance sector officials. The goal of the summit was to strengthen governance and preservation efforts in the Amazon, Congo basin, and forests in Southeast Asia.
The participating countries acknowledged the importance of cooperation and outlined a seven-point plan to develop strategies to protect the rainforests. Arlette Soudan Nonault, the environment minister of the Republic of Congo, emphasized the necessity of joining forces and recognized the initiative to unite the three basins as an essential endeavor.
The urgent need for action is driven by the fact that these rainforests house two-thirds of Earth’s biodiversity. However, rapid deforestation poses a threat by releasing carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming, and jeopardizing climate targets. According to an October report, deforestation increased by 4% worldwide in 2022, indicating that countries are not on track to fulfill their pledges made at the 2021 U.N. climate talks to halt and reverse forest loss and degradation by 2030.
During the three-day summit in Brazzaville, experts and policymakers focused on shared priorities ahead of the U.N. COP28 climate talks scheduled for next month. They explored various funding mechanisms to assist developing countries in preserving their vital ecosystems. As a side event, Congo Republic signed a forest partnership roadmap with the European Union. The agreement aims to increase the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of forests in Congo by 2030, create more forest-related job opportunities, and reduce the rate of forest loss.
While environmental organizations welcomed the agreement reached on Saturday, they also emphasized the need for governments to go further. The World Wildlife Fund stated that additional efforts are necessary to foster concrete collaboration between the three regions and take real action to halt deforestation.
(Additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian and Edward McAllister)
