Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
đ
NewsTranscript
00:00 This is one of the planet's main carbon reserves, and it's heading to a point of no return.
00:07 Deforestation coupled with forest fires is causing the Amazon rainforest to emit more
00:12 carbon dioxide than it can absorb.
00:16 In 2020, its CO2 emissions were 117% higher than the average between 2010 and 2018.
00:24 The leaders of the eight countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization are
00:29 meeting to discuss urgent solutions to save the forest.
00:33 "First, the Amazon is severely threatened.
00:37 Second, we cannot allow it to enter a point of no return.
00:41 And third, it is impossible to reverse this process if we work separately.
00:45 So we're going to work together."
00:49 On the agenda is working on eradicating deforestation, ending illegal gold mining and policing environmental
00:56 crime. Brazilian President Lula, who returned to power in January, has pledged to halt deforestation
01:03 by 2030, after his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro increased it by 75% compared to the average
01:10 over the last decade.
01:13 Today tree felling is slowly decreasing. According to official figures, felling levels dropped
01:19 by 42.5% between January and July compared with the same period last year.
01:26 Colombia's ZENU indigenous people are pushing for others to continue the progress that has
01:31 been made.
01:32 "If we don't overcome the values of cutthroat competition, of permanent war on nature, it's
01:40 going to be very difficult to overcome the environmental crises that we are facing at
01:45 this time of war."
01:46 But amid negotiations, the sensitive topic remains the issue of oil projects in the region.
01:55 In favour of an economy without fossil fuels, Colombia is advocating for a rapid energy
02:01 transition.
02:02 But Venezuela and Brazil, both big oil producers, are arguing for a progressive transition and
02:08 the prolonging of oil extraction in the Amazon.
02:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]