Viewpoint: the Amazon needs to become a science and innovation hub

Many in Europe believe that the best way to protect the Amazon forest is through sanctions. By not importing “deforested products”, they think they can have a clear conscience and move on to another issue. However, sanctions will certainly not contribute to preserve a biome that, apart from being the world’s largest tropical forest and representing 25% of all global biodiversity, is home to millions of people.

Instead, if Europe really wants to contribute to the preservation of the Amazon, it needs to focus on cooperation and increase its participation – for example, in the task of transforming the region into a science and innovation hub. It also needs to be open to new bioeconomy goods and services sustainably conceived and produced in the Amazon region.

Let me be very clear: it is fundamental to combat illegal deforestation and to fight all illicit activities that harm the biome and indigenous populations. The Brazilian government and society are doing exactly that. The Amazon biome represents 60% of our territory and is home to 14% of our population. It is a priority for us. But, again, if you really want to halt deforestation and preserve the Amazon biome, combatting illegal activities is not enough. We need, above all, to guarantee the sustainable development of the Amazon region – in its economic, social and environmental dimensions – with science and innovation as one of its main drivers.

We have been striving in this direction for a long time. Brazil is a founding member of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO), a group also formed by the other seven Amazonian countries. It is not enough to work only on the Brazilian Amazon region: it is crucial to operate in coordination with our neighbours. ACTO was a pioneer in the area of sustainable development, and it organises its work largely by sharing scientific information. European countries and foundations greatly support the ACTO and we need them to continue doing so.

At the national level, Brazil’s Ecological Transformation Plan is an overarching initiative that aims to promote change in economic, technological and cultural paradigms in favour of development based on sustainable relations with nature and its biomes.

Brazil’s Amazonian initiatives

When it comes to research, the Brazilian Council of Foundations of Support to Research (CONFAP) has promoted the initiative "Amazônia+10," aimed at financing research that has as its main goals to bring scientific and technological solutions to real problems of local society. Likewise, the project SALAS, coordinated by our Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation since 2020, is aimed at creating infrastructures to support research in the Amazonian territory. These initiatives can certainly benefit from European support.

Brazil’s belief that investment in innovation is crucial for both biodiversity conservation and addressing climate change is shared by many developing and developed countries. The recent adoption of the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge is a testament to this common vision. The treaty's mandatory disclosure requirement concerning the origin of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in patents is a significant step forward. We are sure that our European partners will continue working together with us in the implementation phase of the treaty.

Another fundamental area to invest in jointly is the bioeconomy. In Brazil’s view, the bioeconomy is a new, productive paradigm that focuses on the sustainable use of renewable biological resources to produce goods, services, and energy while respecting the ecosystems. The objective is to meet societal needs, minimise environmental and climate impacts, and create new, decent jobs. Without taking care of people, we will not succeed in protecting the biome.

The Brazilian Amazon is already home to innovative start-ups in the bioeconomy sector, particularly in the field of bio-based industries. One notable initiative is "Inova Amazônia", which accelerates start-ups developing sustainable business projects based on Amazonian biodiversity. The EU supports this initiative financially.

The G20 agenda

In our current presidency of the Group of 20 largest economies, we have launched the Initiative on Bioeconomy, which has three key axes: research, development and innovation for bioeconomy; sustainable use of biodiversity for bioeconomy; and bioeconomy as an enabler for sustainable development. Also under our G20 presidency, the Amazon biome has been at the centre of our discussions in the Research and Innovation Working Group. We have been counting on the EU and other European G20 members to move these ideas forward.

Research and innovation in the Amazon are also topics of cooperation between Brazil and partner countries worldwide. With the UK, for example, the main project of scientific cooperation is AmazonFACE, which comprises 16 towers, each 35 metres tall, through which we seek to understand how the increase in CO2 affects the Amazon forest. The ATTO Tower has been developed in partnership with Germany and registers meteorological, chemical, and biological data.

I have listed a few examples of initiatives and projects in which cooperation is ongoing or could be developed to help us move forward in the direction of transforming the Amazon into a science and technology hub. But the existing agenda is much richer; and the possibilities of joint work are huge. My objective is to show that there is a lot we can do together beyond sharing our differences on the subject of sanctions.

Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva is ambassador of Brazil to the European Union.