Agenda on oil abandonment may be out of deal at the Amazon Summit

The ministers of the Environment of Brazil, Peru and Colombia signaled that the abandonment of oil exploration in the Amazon may not be included in the deal between presidents who will participate in the Amazon Summit, which begins on Tuesday (8).

Without making categorical statements about the content of the agreements, the authorities participated in a press conference this Sunday, August 6, on the last day of the Amazon Dialogues, an event with social movements that takes place before the meeting of heads of state.

The head of the Colombian Ministry of the Environment said that the consensus already established among the eight countries in the Amazon basin is to avoid the so-called point of no return, when the forest will be so degraded that it will no longer be able to regenerate.

"I am not sure that an agreement can be reached [between presidents on oil exploration in the Amazon]. It's not that easy", said Susana Muhamad from Colombia.

The statement was made at a press conference during the Amazon Dialogues, an event with wide participation of social movements that precedes the meeting of heads of state of the Amazon Basin.

Amazon Dialogues reject oil

On the Brazilian side, Marina Silva reiterated that avoiding the point of no return is the point of consensus. She recalled that countries have divergent positions on oil, although exploration is rejected by traditional populations and scientists.

"Social movements have done their part [in rejecting oil in the Amazon]. Where is the implementation deficit? In governments and companies", Marina declared at the press conference.

Peru, which created its Ministry of the Environment only in 2008, suffers from the consequences of oil extraction. The country lives with oil spills that often affect indigenous and fishing communities.

"We have many environmental liabilities, both from hydrocarbons and from mining that we have to respond to," said Peruvian Minister of the Environment, Albina Ruiz.

The ministers' speech to journalists was preceded by a protest against hydrocarbon exploration in the mouth of the Amazon River. The act organized by environmentalists took over the main plenary of the Hangar, the event center where since Friday, August 4th, the Amazonian Dialogues have taken place.

Protest against oil exploration took place at Diálogos Amazônicos / Renata Sembay/ ARAYARA.org

Scientists who study the climate crisis unanimously reject oil exploration in the Amazon. Indigenous, quilombola and fishermen organizations and leaders complain that they have not been consulted about the significant impacts that the activity can have on the territories.

Oil in the Amazon is not a consensus among countries

The theme of oil exploration divides the rulers of the Amazonian countries.

On the one hand, Brazil and Venezuela have large reserves of hydrocarbons in the biome and are not talking about abandoning the activity. The mouth of the Amazon River is Petrobras' main oil expansion front.

Recently, oil reserves were discovered in two other countries that will participate in the Amazon Summit, Guyana and Suriname, which are betting on fossil fuel as the engine of their economic development.

In the opposite direction, Colombia announced a drastic measure at the beginning of the year: the end of granting new licenses for oil exploration. President Gustavo Petro said that the measure is the first step towards making the energetic transition to a matrix based on renewable sources.