Glasgow, SCOTLAND – Representatives from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the governments of Germany and the Netherlands announced today a new partnership to promote sustainable landscapes and forest protection in the Amazon region, supporting IDB’s Amazon Initiative.
The governments of Germany and Netherlands pledged to each contribute $17.5 million (EU15 million) toward a new Amazon Bioeconomy and Forest Management Multi-Donor Trust Fund. The partnership consists of three main lines of action: resilient and diverse landscapes, Amazon-positive value chains, and sustainability in commodity supply chains. The collaboration will feature a strong focus on empowerment of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), with targets dedicated to ensuring the prioritization of IPLC as beneficiaries.
The announcement was made during the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow by IDB president Mauricio Claver-Carone, Professor Claudia Warning,director-general for the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and South-Eastern and Eastern Europe at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and The Netherlands’ Climate Envoy Jaime de Bourbon de Parme.
“The Amazon region is key to a sustainable recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are honored to have this partnership with countries that have an extensive trajectory on climate action”, said Claver-Carone. “This initiative will benefit bio businesses, families, and small farmers through sustainable development models based on human capital, natural wealth, and the cultural heritage of this incomparable region.”
“The Amazon’s conservation is only possible through sustainable and inclusive economic development models,” said Professor Warning. “By participating in the IDB’s Amazon Initiative, we support the promotion of long-term, prosperous regional development of the Amazon biome in ways that increase its rich natural and sociocultural capital and benefit its diverse communities. The IDB, with its expertise and broad network in the region, is the perfect partner to achieve these goals.”
“Conservation of the Amazon rainforest is of critical importance in our fight to limit climate change, prevent biodiversity loss, and protect the livelihoods of farmers, indigenous people, and local communities,” said Bourbon de Parme. “In the Leticia Pact, the Amazon nations announced a joint effort to develop the region in a sustainable way and to combat deforestation, but also signaled the need for international cooperation and support. We therefore warmly welcome the Amazon Initiative that was launched by the IDB and are proud to contribute to this multi-stakeholder endeavor.”
The IDB’s Amazon Initiative promotes sustainable development models based on human capital, natural wealth, and the Amazon region’s cultural heritage. The initiative, which already has $20 million in seed capital from the IDB, will be implemented in close coordination with the Amazonian countries and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). The IDB’s newly created Amazon Unit will lead internal and external strategic coordination and implementation of the initiative’s financial instruments.
The partnership also includes IDB Invest, the bank’s multilateral investment institution for the private sector, and IDB Lab, the IDB’s innovation laboratory. The initiative aligns with the IDB’s Vision 2025 agenda for spurring the region’s recovery and addressing climate action.
Providing between 35 and 40 percent of Latin America’s freshwater, the Amazon is critical to ecosystems worldwide, regulating air quality, storing net carbon emissions, and regulating nutrient and hydrological cycles for the South American continent. The Amazon region is also home to more than 30 million people, including approximately 1.5 million indigenous people and more than 5 million Afro-descendants.
