Brazil offers to host August summit for Amazon rainforest alliance

[April 07, 2023]  BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil is offering to host a regional summit in early August to renew the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), bringing together countries containing parts of the Amazon rainforest along with senior officials from the U.S. and France.  

Brazilian Army soldiers are pictured in a forest of wood extraction in the Amazon rainforest, inside Jamari National Forest Park in the County of Itapua do Oeste, Rondonia state, Brazil, September 28, 2021. Picture taken September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said on Thursday that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva aims to consolidate the region's plans for the Amazon at the summit in the northern city of Belem on Aug. 8 and 9.

Lula then aims to present that shared vision to the United Nations General Assembly the following month, where confronting climate change is expected to be a central part of his message.

The August summit would be a chance for the eight countries making up ACTO to discuss how to attract investments, combat deforestation, protect Indigenous peoples and encourage sustainable development in the face of climate change.

Lula's plans for ACTO are key to his diplomatic goals for his third term, after major strides in combating deforestation during his 2003-2010 presidency.

French President Emmanuel Macron is also expected to attend the regional summit, on behalf of French Guiana, along with U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would also be invited after missing out on regional meetings in recent years, amid the suspension of diplomatic ties with Brazil's former government and strained relations with other countries in the region.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Brad Haynes and Sandra Maler)

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