Inaugural Amazon Governors Summit Convenes at the Vatican, Rome

Nov 4, 2019

Rome, Italy– On October 28, 2019, GCF Task Force Governors from the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon convened at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican for the Amazon Governors Summit: Paths and Commitments for Sustainable Development of the Amazon.

GCF Task Force Governors at the Amazon Governors Summit

The Summit was an initiative led by the Interstate Consortium for Sustainable Development of the Legal Amazon, the Amazon Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican. The Summit elucidated diverse perspectives on sustainable Amazonian development from the Amazon region itself, scientific scenarios, and international support and initiatives.

Participants included Governors from the Amazon alongside observers, researchers, civil society representatives, and the Amazon region’s legislative and judiciary bodies. By presenting Paths and Commitments to Sustainable Development in the Amazon, the Summit sought to advance UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the message of Pope Francis’s Encyclical Laudato Si´, and the results of the Synod on Amazon. Simultaneously, the Summit invited discussion with the international community on innovative solutions and corresponding financing mechanisms necessary to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

The Summit concluded with the presentation, reading and signing of the Pan-Amazon Declaration, solidifying the commitments of Governors in the Pan-Amazon region to service the mission of Pope Francis to conserve the Amazon rainforest and invite all organizations, institutions, and people together to construct effective solutions for sustainable development in the Amazon.

Amazon Governors Summit: Paths and Commitments for Sustainable Development of the Amazon

Governor of Amapá, San Martín and Ucayali signing the Pan-Amazon Declaration

The Declaration underscores the need for a sustainable development model emphasizing social justice, solidarity, respect for nature and for traditional communities, especially indigenous peoples. Signatories commit to the sustainable development of the Amazon basin achieved by a green economy, zero illegal deforestation, integral ecology, and socioeconomic inclusion—including the defense of the rights of indigenous peoples and traditional populations, and respect for cultural heritage. Thereby, Amazonian Governors and partners seek to satisfy the cultural, social, and economic needs of the Amazonian population while at the same time fulfill the Amazon’s function as an essential supplier of global products and environmental services contributing to the biodiversity and climatic balance of the planet.

To this end, the Declaration includes a call for increased international cooperation and financing, strengthening of subnational governance, eliminating deforestation and humanitarian injustices from supply chains, and rapid action on short, medium, and long-term plans towards sustainable development.

Finally, the Declaration supports the creation of a Scientific Panel on the future of the Amazon supported by the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences, plus establishes the Pan-Amazon Governors Summit as a permanent forum for discussion.

Signatories to the Declaration

Governors

Antonia Waldez Góes da Silva, Governor of Amapá, Brazil

Wilson Miranda Lima, Governor of Amazonas, Brazil

Flávio Dino de Castro Costa, Governor of Maranhão, Brazil

Helder Barbalho, Governor of Pará, Brazil

Wellington Dias, Governor of Piauí, Brazil, and Representative of the Northeast Consortium

Juan Manuel Alvarado Cornelio, Governor of Huánuco, Perú

Pedro Bogarin Vargas, Governor of San Martín, Perú

Francisco Antonio Pezo Torres, Governor of Ucayali, Perú

Participants

Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences