Cenarium Network and FAS launch Amazon Pathways guide for COP28

João Cunha – Special to Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS (AM) – CENARIUM AMAZON NETWORK, the Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS) and the Amazon Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN Amazônia) have launched the “Amazon Pathways” guide to the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The material is special for the amazonian public looking to learn more about the world’s largest climate-related event from a regionalized perspective.

The guide is available in three languages:

Amazon Pathways Guide to COP28 (Portuguese)
Amazon Pathways Guide to COP28 (Spanish)
Amazon Pathways Guide to COP28 (English)

The material presents the origins and history of the United Nations (UN) Conferences on Climate Change, a dictionary of technical terms and acronyms, a current context of climate issues and key themes to understand the importance of COP28 for the Amazon.

The general director of the Cenarium Amazon Network, Paula Litaiff, points out that the Amazon should play a central role in the COP discussions, considering the region’s importance for global climate dynamics.

“The Amazon is strategic for the COP28 deliberations, so it’s essential that the public follows this conference with an eye on the climate injustice faced by traditional communities and peoples. The idea is to help ensure that actions to combat the effects of the climate crisis take into account the perspectives of the people who live in the region”, she said.

For Virgilio Viana, general superintendent of FAS, the richest countries should allocate financial resources to adaptation and climate justice. “We see the extreme drought in Amazonas as an example of climate injustice. Everything that has been happening is particularly cruel and unfair to the poorest. Although everyone is affected, the most vulnerable populations are the ones who receive this impact most violently”, he says.

CENARIUM AMAZON NETWORK is a communications group available online, as a digital magazine, print magazine, news agency and web TV, with the aim of reporting information from the nine states of the Amazon region. The group will work in partnership with FAS and SDSN Amazônia to cover the conference.

What is the COP?

The United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP) is one of the main forums for dialog and decision-making on the direction of environmental and climate policy at international level. The next edition of the conference, COP28, begins on November 30 in Dubai and presents itself as another opportunity for countries, governments and companies to understand and commit to adjusting their behavior, goals and modes of consumption and production in the face of a common challenge: the climate emergency, which threatens the viability of human life on the planet.

The UN Climate Change Conference is better known as COP. This stands for Conference of the Parties, and the “parties” are the 198 countries that are part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Conferences are spaces where these nations meet to make commitments, exchange experiences and create global climate solutions. The COPs are also spaces for socio-environmental movements and the scientific community to present their demands, questions and proposals for halting the advance of climate change.

The Amazon at COP28

The Amazon has a central position in the COP discussions due to its influence on global climate dynamics; it is home to the world’s largest tropical rainforest, with a significant part still in a good state of conservation. Tropical rainforests play a key role in reducing global pollution levels.

Brazil, the country that has the largest portion of the biome in its territorial extension, arrives at COP28 at a new moment in its foreign policy, more willing to integrate with the other nations that make up the Pan-Amazon and open to articulating a joint vision on the environmental issues that concern the region.

The Amazon Summit, held at the beginning of August in Belém do Pará, brought together the presidents of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and was a demonstration of this new willingness and a return to prominence in global climate discussions. Belém is also preparing to host the 30th edition of the COP (COP30) in 2025, marking the first time that an Amazonian city will host a climate conference.

At the same time, the Amazon is suffering disproportionately from the effects of global warming, caused largely by the emission of polluting gases generated in other regions. And those who are paying the price are the Amazonian populations, who were already in a situation of social vulnerability.

The Amazon can also provide solutions to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis, perspectives and technologies that teach other ways of living in balance with nature, reconciling environmental conservation and income generation. These Amazonian alternatives can serve as an example and inspiration for the world, but first there must be respect, space and attentive listening for Amazonians at COP28.

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