Leading scientists gather before the UN Climate Summit to highlight the sense of urgency in the Amazon

NEW YORK -- September 21, 2019 -- More than 30 scientists and researchers gathered at the eve of the UN Climate Action Summit at the UN’s headquarters to call on the scientific community at large to save the Amazon.

For context, the Amazon boasts the title of the largest rainforest in the world and a place of immense natural and cultural wealth and diversity. It harbors more than a fifth of the species on Earth, including over 2,300 species of fish which are found across the basin, more than in the entire Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon also plays a critical role in global water cycles. Its rivers hold one fifth of all the fresh water of the planet, and the Amazon River is the largest tributary to the world’s oceans.

The Amazon is also a source of enormous cultural diversity with more than 35 million people living in this magnificent ecosystem. This includes nearly one million indigenous peoples from around 400 indigenous groups each with their own cultural identities and territorial management practices, and speaking 300 different languages. This cultural richness is complemented by communities of quilombolas, descendants of African slaves, and a diverse range of traditional peoples utilizing forest and river resources.

The Amazon is a critical buffer against climate change. It absorbs about 20% to 25% of the 2.4 billion metric tons of carbon that forests remove from the atmosphere every year. The entire Amazon stores nearly 100 billion metric tons of carbon—about a decade’s worth of global emissions.

The Amazon rainforest is at grave risk of destruction, as made apparent by the widely covered forest fires. In response, the SDSN convened an Amazon Scientists meeting with the goal of establishing an ongoing scientific process to inform decision-making on the survival and sustainable development of the Amazon and the establishment of a Scientific Panel for Amazon Survival (SPAS).

The meeting was Chaired by Dr. Carlos Nobre, Scientific Director of the National Institute for Climate Change Research, who noted the “disruptive change in the past 40 years” to the Amazon and the need to “act urgently” in order to solve the climate crisis. He highlighted that this meeting was a historic moment as we mobilize scientists of the region to save the Amazon and to contribute with scientific evidence to decision-making.

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the SDSN stressed the need for monitoring the state of the Amazon and the ability to say no, indicating that some issues could not be compromised upon while emphasizing the need for science, technology and knowledge for the survival and sustainable management of the Amazon

Discussions included our responsibilities to the Amazon and the declaration by Former UN General Assembly President, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, concerning the importance of placing the Amazon “back on the international agenda” and our responsibility to save “its internal diversity and richness.”

Other discussions included:

• The urgency of having ecological forecast systems in place.
• The need for trans-disciplinary research and understanding of the economic implications of devastation in the Amazon.

The committee will hold a two-day meeting during the UN’s 25th climate change conference (COP25) in Chile the week of December 8 with the goal of publishing its first report on the State of the Amazon by June 2020.