Another Amazon summit, another round of tough talks! Leaders gathered, but reaching consensus on critical deforestation and fossil fuel bans proved challenging. While a $125 billion forest fund framework emerged, conservationists are left wondering: will promises turn into real action before the Amazon reaches a point of no return?

The recent Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) summit in Bogotá, featuring prominent leaders like Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, offered a stark preview of the uphill battles awaiting the upcoming United Nations climate summit, COP30. Despite high-level discussions among nations home to the vital Amazon rainforest, the gathering concluded with limited tangible progress, dampening hopes for robust new environmental policy initiatives.

This latest meeting marked the fifth such event since ACTO’s inception in 1995, and the second in just three years, underscoring growing international concern over the Amazon’s fate. While these summits consistently highlight the environmental ambitions of regional leaders, particularly President Petro and President Lula, the increasing frequency of gatherings has not necessarily translated into more decisive action to curb critical issues like deforestation.

A significant setback from the 2023 ACTO summit, reiterated by the latest discussions, was the inability to secure a unified commitment from all eight Amazon rainforest countries to achieve a zero-deforestation target. Nations including Bolivia, Guyana, and Suriname reportedly resisted this ambitious goal, leading to a vaguer collective pledge to halt forest destruction before reaching an unspecified “point of no return.” This lack of concrete agreement on deforestation remains a critical concern for environmental advocates.

Scientists warn that if the Amazon rainforest crosses a threshold of approximately 20 to 25 percent destruction, it risks transforming into a drier, less biodiverse grassland ecosystem. Alarmingly, conservation groups estimate that between 15 to 20 percent of the original rainforest has already been lost. Recent data further exacerbates these fears, with some major Amazon countries reporting worsening deforestation numbers over the past two years, signaling an urgent need for effective environmental policy.

In 2024, Colombia experienced a staggering 50 percent increase in Amazon deforestation compared to the previous year, though figures remain below its 2017 peak. This reversal is particularly concerning given President Petro’s declared commitment to environmental protection and is reportedly linked to the recent breakdown of cease-fire agreements with armed groups, which can enable illegal logging and land clearing. Meanwhile, Bolivia’s Amazon deforestation reached a record high in 2024.

Despite Brazil being home to roughly 60 percent of the Amazon, it showed a more positive trend with deforestation decreasing by about 17 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, according to research by MapBiomas. However, the wider regional challenges persist, demanding a harmonized and proactive approach to protect the entire Amazon rainforest and combat climate change effectively.

Another contentious point at the recent ACTO meeting was the call by President Petro and Indigenous campaigners for other Amazon countries to commit to banning fossil fuel production within the forest. However, key nations like Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela reportedly opposed this measure, with Brazil, in particular, pursuing extensive plans to expand its oil production, projected to increase by 10 percent this year alone. This divergence highlights the complex economic and environmental policy balancing act faced by South America.

Despite the areas of disagreement, the summit did yield some positive developments. Following a 2023 pledge to enhance cooperation against organized crime in the Amazon, President Lula announced the impending opening of a new international police station in Manaus, Brazil, to bolster these efforts. Crucially, the ACTO countries also endorsed a framework for a substantial $125 billion forest protection fund. This ambitious plan, which Brazil aims to officially launch at COP30, includes an enlarged governance role for Indigenous peoples and new requirements for fund recipients, such as protecting all types of forests and a ban on using funds for oil and gas investments.

Nevertheless, conservationists expressed frustration over the scant progress on other key ACTO initiatives, underscoring the persistent challenges in translating high-level rhetoric into concrete, collective action to safeguard the irreplaceable Amazon rainforest against deforestation and the escalating threats of climate change.