The Amazon Fund was founded in Brazil in 2008 to support the preservation of the Amazon rainforest, combat deforestation, and promote sustainable activities. This October, Switzerland officially aligned its goals with it, signing a contract of support to the fund, with a millionaire contribution backed by Swiss know-how, innovation, and expertise.
Swiss Ambassador to Brazil Pietro Lazzeri inked the agreement with Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), the organ charged with managing the fund, on October 4 in a ceremony in Brasilia that counted with Brazilian government and conservation officials.
The Swiss government’s move pumps new momentum into the fund at a crucial time in its resurgence after a near-death period under Brazil’s far-right government of Jair Bolsonaro, who froze the fund and dismantled its managing committees.
On the heels of a 15-year high in Amazon deforestation under Bolsonaro, heralded by the lack of investing around some US$600 million in available funds for environmental initiatives from 2019 to 2022, the Swiss commitment is a global vote of confidence on the resurgent fund.
Contractual requirements required the existence of a managing committee to ensure the funds were used for their intended purpose. Their absence hindered their ability to finance projects and receive donations.
Committees' dissolution
On the month Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected back to the Brazilian presidency, in October 2022, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled Bolsonaro’s dissolution of the committees as unconstitutional, citing the government's duty to preserve the Amazon. It ordered the government to take steps to reactivate the Amazon Fund.
On January 1, 2023, President Lula reinstated the committees, allowing for the resumption of activities and opening the door to new contributions to support the Amazon Fund's mission.
Since then, the initiative has resurfaced with renewed vigor. Nations around the world are now showing a heightened interest in the project.
Switzerland's commitment to the fund was first announced in July by its Economic Minister Guy Parmelin in Brasília. In April, US Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry visited Brasilia and the Biden administration pledged $500 Million to the fund over the next five years.
From its inception, it has received a total of US$650 million and financed over 102 projects, with a total investment of US$335 million, according to reports from its BNDES managing committee.
At the start of the fund, Norway pledged the first big donation of US$1 billion over 10 years if Brazil could show progress in reducing deforestation. It fulfilled its commitment then and has recommitted since Lula’s return.
In a report, BNDES says the Amazon Fund has, since its creation, supported projects that have benefited approximately 241,000 people involved in sustainable production activities; 101 indigenous territories, and 196 conservation areas within the Amazon.
This Swiss support signals renewed momentum for the fund and its conservation efforts in the Amazon region, says Brazilian conversation advocate Adriana Alves, "Vital resources to make up for lost time."
The Amazon Fund has financed sustainable development programs that helped Brazil reduce Amazon deforestation by 82% between 2004 and 2014.
The Amazon rainforest, the largest tropical forest in the world, has immense ecological value for Brazil and the entire planet. It is home to 10% of the world's biodiversity, helps regulate regional and global climate patterns, and supports indigenous communities that have lived in the region for millennia.
In the 2000s, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached alarming levels, with clearing and burning of forest at its highest rate in decades. This rampant deforestation released significant greenhouse gas emissions while also threatening biodiversity and indigenous lands.
The fund is set to provide grants to support increased environmental monitoring and enforcement, sustainable agriculture and forestry, and the demarcation of indigenous territories. It has already funded the protection of over 15 million hectares of rainforest. From 2008 to 2015, Brazil achieved steep reductions in Amazon deforestation, demonstrating the fund's early success.
However, from 2016-2018 during the Temer administration in Brazil, challenges plagued the Amazon Fund. Deforestation began rising again as environmental agencies experienced budget cuts and political pressure. Confidence in the fund declined and donations slowed, hampering progress. Donations had dried up amid global concerns over Brazil's environmental policies under Bolsonaro.
The return of President Lula in 2023 brought renewed hope for the Amazon. Beginning with a speech at COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheik, Egypt before taking office, Lula made protecting the rainforest a key priority.
He revitalized the Amazon Fund by naming respected indigenous leaders as directors and signaled to global donors his strong commitment to conservation.
In his first year back in office, early data indicates Lula has put Brazil on track to lower Amazon deforestation by over 40% compared to the previous year. His restoration and expansion of the Amazon Fund has been a key to this success.
Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Brazilian Minister for Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara pose for a picture after a meeting for talks on the protection of the Amazon Forest, in Leticia, Colombia | AFP
The replenished fund is focusing on supporting programs to expand indigenous territories, restore degraded land, and research sustainable development in the Amazon. The fate of the Amazon rainforest, however, remains imperiled by illegal logging, mining, and ranching interests.
The return and revitalization of the Amazon Fund provides aims to curtailfurther destruction.The fund stands as an important mechanism through which Brazil and world partners can cooperate to protect the forest often referred to as 'lungs of the Earth' for future generations.
The Swiss commitment thus signals renewed international confidence in the fund and Brazil's willingness to protect its natural heritage. It unlocks matching donations from other partners like Norway, demonstrating shared resolve to preserve the Amazon.
Switzerland wants its backing the Amazon Fund to position it as a key partner to Brazil on climate action. Building on decades of Swiss-Brazilian collaboration in science and innovation, Lazzeri said, the agreement enhances Switzerland's climate credentials while sharing its environmental expertise.
With its renewed directive by Lula, and the influx of new funds, the Amazon Fund is now in a position to finance more conservation projects, indigenous health initiatives, and law enforcement against illegal deforestation.
With over two-thirds of the Amazon located in Brazil, the Swiss action and investment are crucial for Brazil’s efforts to stop damage from becoming irreversible, recognized the country’s authorities at the signing ceremony.
By harnessing Swiss knowledge and Brazilian will, the partners say, they set a trail "to ensure ensure coming generations will also experience the wonders of our shared natural world."
