Catastrophic Amazon fires: Call for “unprecedented action”

NGO Amnesty International on Monday called on the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru to take “unprecedented action” to avert a climate catastrophe as a result of the massive fires that have devoured millions of hectares of virgin forest and other protected vegetation in the Amazon basin in the past two months.

In an open letter, the organization states that “August and September of this year saw a record number of fires and carbon dioxide emissions.”

“More than ever, South American presidents need to take urgent action to avoid a climate catastrophe that could have irreversible consequences for all of humanity. It is high time, as the region is experiencing one of the most severe droughts in its history!” Amnesty International wrote in its appeal.

According to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), 50,000 forest fires have been recorded in the Amazon basin since the beginning of this year. In September, the sky over 60 percent of Brazil's territory was covered in thick layers of smoke from forest fires.

The Brazilian Climate Observatory estimates that more than 11 million hectares of forest have burned in the Amazon since the beginning of the year.

In Bolivia, according to official government data, fires have destroyed four million hectares of virgin forest.

Colombian authorities reported that fires there devoured 19,439 hectares of forest in September alone. In Paraguay, the losses amounted to 318,604 hectares, while Argentina's losses were 91,540 hectares of forest, which were burned in hundreds of fires.

In its recommendations, which conclude its review of the devastation caused by fires in the Amazon forests, Amnesty International points to the need to implement the Escazú Accords – the first regional pact and the first in the world to contain detailed recommendations on the protection of environmental defenders, which, six years after its conclusion, has still not been ratified by Brazil, Paraguay and Peru.

Amnesty International recalled that in the coming months, Latin America will host two major events of great importance for the future of our planet: the COP16 Assembly on Biodiversity, to be held in Colombia, and the United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Brazil in 2025.