International recognition: Prince Charles confirms the Amazon’s position at COP26

Bruno Pacheco and Priscilla Peixoto – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, recognized this Thursday, 4, during the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, Scotland, that Amazonas follows the right path in search of balance between environmental conservation and economic growth, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable populations.

The English monarch’s statement was directed to the Secretary of State of the Environment of Amazonas, Eduardo Taveira, who represents the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, at COP26. The secretary gave an exclusive interview to CENARIUM MAGAZINE on Thursday evening, 4th, right after the event. “In one of the opportunities that Amazonas had to express itself, the message I told him [Prince Charles] was exactly this: ‘it is very important that we find ways to balance environmental conservation and economic growth, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable populations”, recalled the secretary.

According to Taveira, who attended a meeting with the monarch and Brazilian governors for the launch of the “Race to Zero” campaign, in which the Brazilian states commit to zero net carbon emissions by 2050, Prince Charles promptly replied: “This is the point. This is exactly what we have to do. I fully agree with Amazonas, that we have to find answers to alleviate poverty, while at the same time we move forward in conservation and reduction of emissions. For the heir to the British throne, the rich countries are the ones truly responsible for finding these mechanisms.

The Amazon as an agenda

Eduardo Taveira highlights that, since he started following the COP26, the Amazon has always been the main agenda of the event. On the social networks, the secretary reminds us that, like it or not, the region is in the global spotlight and, therefore, it is extremely important that both issues related to development and to the defense of the forest are always dealt with by the representatives of the region in the first person, that is, without intermediaries.

“That’s what I wrote in my social networks, it is important that every time the Amazon and the Amazon are talked about we are present. That’s why our participation here at COP26 and everywhere is very important. We have to be actors and defenders, for the bad as well as for the good, from the point of view of the demands that arise, but we cannot let third parties speak for us. The forest is ours, but it has global attributes and if it is ours, we have to take care of it, make the best use of it so that we have these guarantees of long-term sustainability”, he reinforced to CENARIUM MAGAZINE.

German visit confirmed

According to Taveira, a German delegation confirmed it will be in Manaus on December 3 and 4 of this year to talk with governor Wilson Lima and present cooperation proposals for the region. The European country has also guaranteed the launch of a new fund, called “Forest Fund” aimed at directly supporting some states that make up the Amazon. According to him, support for two states is initially planned.

“There is still no definition of which states they are, but, soon after the beginning of 2022, four more states will be supported and it is very important to define this resource agenda that has as one of the focuses the development of the bio-economy, inclusive, it is an agenda that we have already been working on”, emphasizes the secretary.

Taveira also alerts to the need to develop and work on growth-oriented strategies. “We can’t talk about fighting deforestation, fighting environmental illegalities, if we don’t have a low emission economic alternative that guarantees people an income. This strategy of environmental conservation and economic management is, in fact, very important”, warns Eduardo.

Carbon market

Besides meeting Prince Charles to talk about environmental conservation and poverty alleviation, Secretary Eduardo Taveira also met with representatives of the Brazilian states accredited by the Leaf Coalition initiative, a billionaire program launched on April 22nd of this year against deforestation, in which the Amazon is one of the climate leaders.

The Leaf initiative, according to Taveira, sets parameters so that states can increase their carbon stock ambitions, i.e., decrease deforestation, increase the recovery of degraded areas, increasing the price of carbon.

“Currently, an average of US$ 5 (dollars) is paid for carbon in this voluntary market and the initiative is proposing a design to reach up to U$ 10 a ton. For example, for Amazonas, if we consider the stocks from 2004 to 2019, we would have almost US$ 9 billion in carbon stock alone, which could be a very good money to invest in new economic activities”, he stressed.

“The Leaf Coalition, through a methodology of quantification and pricing of carbon called Art Trees, wants to define this standard as global and attract companies to support it. The good news is that Amazonas is already accredited with this methodology. Once this market and methodology are ready, Amazonas is already a leader in the North Region and among the States able to receive resources for emissions compensation, through carbon and voluntary market”, reinforced Taveira.