In a declaration issued at the end of the Summit of the world's three great basins of the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo-Mekong on Saturday 28 October 2023 in Brazzaville, the Heads of State and Government undertook, among other things, to: to strengthen cooperation between the three basins, which are home to 80% of the world's tropical forests and two-thirds of terrestrial biodiversity; to recognise the unity of enhanced cooperation between the three basins; to recognise the sovereign management of biodiversity, forests and associated resources by the countries that make up the three basins; to pool and capitalise on the knowledge, experience, resources and achievements existing in each of the basins; and to introduce a sustainable system of remuneration for the ecosystem services provided by the three basins".

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AMAZONIA/CONGO/BORNEO-MEKONG AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, SUMMIT OF THE THREE BASINS OF BIODIVERSITY ECOSYSTEMS AND TROPICAL FORESTS

BRAZZAVILLE, 26, 27 and 28 October 2023

 

We, the Heads of State and Government of the States of the three basins of the Amazon, Congo, and Borneo Mekong Southeast Asia, met on 28 October 2023 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, in the presence of global representatives of all states and national authorities in the conservation, sustainable management and sustainable development of forest ecosystems, on the occasion of the 2nd Summit of the Three Basin Biodiversity Ecosystems and eliTropical Forests, with the ambition to launch the process of coordination and cooperation between the three basins and to build a global coalition.

 

Acknowledging that:

The three ecosystems of biodiversity and tropical forests:

- cover one third of the world's land surface and are home to more than 1.5 billion people, including indigenous peoples, the majority of whom are young people, and provide ecosystem services that are very important for humankind, including for the sustainable development of the societies that live there ;

- are protected areas of biodiversity and contribute to the preservation of wetlands and aquatic areas ;

- are under direct threat from the negative effects of climate change, knowing that the world's three major rivers, the Amazon, the Congo and the Mekong, lose their flow and fish resources each year ;

- suffer from persistent levels of poverty, including extreme poverty, as well as food insecurity and inequality, which requires progress on the three dimensions of sustainable development – social, economic and environmental – in a balanced manner.

 

Recalling that:

- The COP27 Climate Conference held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, concluded with the recognition of the need to create a fund to address loss and damage due to climate change for the Global South.

- The IPCC, in its 6th Assessment Report, pointed out that "climate change is already impacting tropical forests around the world, including through distributional shifts of forest biomes, changes in species composition, biomass, pests and diseases, and increases in forest fires";

- Developed countries must urgently meet their commitments to provide official development assistance equivalent to 0.7 per cent of their gross national income, and to provide $100 billion per year in climate finance in new, additional, predictable and adequate resources to developing countries;

- Developed countries must meet their climate finance obligations and contribute to the mobilization of $200 billion per year by 2030, as set out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, to support the implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans through the provision of new, additional, predictable, and adequate financial resources;

The adoption of measures to combat climate change and protect the environment, including unilateral measures, must not be used as a means of imposing arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination in international trade, or disguised barriers to such trade;

- We reaffirm our commitment:

• towards the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals and underline the urgency of accelerating its implementation;
• to combat deforestation, while recognising that this does not eliminate for all countries the need for rapid, substantial and lasting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions derived from fossil fuels which according to the IPCC account for the vast majority of global emissions.

- We reaffirm our strong determination to renew our common commitment, made in 2011, at the end of the 1st Summit of the Three Basins on the one hand and on the other hand to relaunch a South-South cooperation process, led by the States of the three basins and established on the basis of the specific priorities and needs of the States, while respecting their sovereignty.

 

We are committed to the following seven elements:

1. Recognize the value of enhanced cooperation between the three basins;
2. Recognize the sovereign management of biodiversity, forests and associated resources of the countries that make up the three basins, without prejudice to the openness to receive external cooperation in the priority issues that they define in this capacity or by common agreement at the regional and/or basin level;
3. Develop ad hoc solutions together at the institutional, diplomatic, legal, scientific, technical and technological levels, adapted to the specific challenges of each State and each basin;
4. Pool and capitalize on existing knowledge, experience, resources and achievements in each of the basins;
5. Involve all states and national authorities, including indigenous peoples, youth, women, civil society, non-governmental organizations, academia and research, local communities and the private sector in an inclusive manner;
6. Encourage financial mobilization and the development of traditional and innovative financing mechanisms;
7. Establish a sustainable system of remuneration for the ecosystem services provided by the three basins.

 

We recognise that these elements form the basis of a roadmap, which can be revised at each stage of the construction of the common framework for cooperation between the three basins.

Thanks

We express our sincere thanks: 3

- to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to the executive agencies of the United Nations system for their technical support and their central role in the success of the Summit, in its preparation and implementation;

- to the civil society, women and youth, indigenous peoples, local communities and non-governmental organizations, for their engagement in the preparation and implementation of the Summit;

- to the technical and financial partners and to the international and regional development financial institutions for their commitment to us and their continued support for the implementation of the post-2nd Summit of the Three Basins roadmap, organized here in Brazzaville;

- to the people and institutions of the Republic of Congo for the warm welcome extended to all delegations and their hospitality.

We pay special tribute to H.E. Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo, Head of State, President of the Congo Basin Climate Commission, for his leadership and for the collective ambition he has for the fight against climate change, the protection of the environment and the preservation of biodiversity, an ambition that first materialized in 2011 with the 1st Summit of the Three Basins, today in 2023 with this 2nd Summit of the Three Basins.

Brazzaville, 28 October 2023

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