Sec. 507. Sense of Congress on conservation of the Amazon River basin
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/bill/117/s/1201/is/section-507·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress makes the following findings: The Amazon River basin and the Amazon rainforest, often referred to as Amazonia— covers more than 2,670,000 square miles in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela; and is home to more species of plants and animals than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet, housing nearly 30 percent of the world’s species, which apart from their intrinsic value as living organisms, have potential value in the form of medicine, research, textiles, food, and other products for the region’s population.
Tens of millions of people depend on services afforded by the Amazon forest, including— the use of rivers for transportation; reliance on logging and collection of non-timber forest products as major industries for employment; and the cultivation of nutrients in floodplain areas for agriculture and areas for which the Amazon Basin is a watershed. The Amazon River has long been recognized as an important repository of biodiversity and natural resources, not only for local peoples and indigenous communities, but also for the rest of the world due to— its fresh water, which provides countless services for humans in the form of water agriculture, transportation, and food and serves as an important habitat for countless species, including over 2,500 species of fish and river dolphins; its medicinal plants, which are continually used by local peoples to treat traditional diseases, including malaria (one of the most lethal diseases in the tropics), and which constitute 70 percent of the plant species in the world found to have anti-cancer properties; its important role as an oxygen source, producing 20 percent of the Earth’s oxygen and earning the Amazon forest the nickname lungs of our Earth for its role in taking in enormous amounts of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity and the burning of fossil fuels and replacing it with the oxygen we breathe through the process of photosynthesis; its food supply, which is associated with rainforests, including coffee, rice, chocolate, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, black pepper, pineapples, and corn; its role in climate control caused by its exchange of enormous quantities of water and energy with the surrounding atmosphere, which is estimated as being responsible for creating 75 percent of its own rainfall, which feeds the nearby rivers through evapotranspiration before flowing directly into the ocean and influencing the currents that impact the climate; and ecotourism, which produces annual profits of more than $11,600,000, which benefits the local economy, enhances the quality of living through securing more jobs, and educates global citizens regarding the importance of maintaining the world’s natural spaces.
Public opinion research, conducted by the Brazilian polling firm Datafolha in 2020, found that— 87 percent of the respondents felt strongly that conservation of the Amazon is very important; 73 percent of the respondents are concerned with the rate of increased deforestation in the Amazon basin; 77 percent of the respondents believed strongly that the conduct and policies of the ministries responsible for management and conservation of the Amazon have contributed to deforestation in the Amazon; 92.5 percent of the respondents believe Brazil should prioritize the pursuit of economic activities in the Amazon basin that do not contribute to deforestation; and only 5.6 percent of the respondents think that forests need to be cut down to promote economic growth in the region.
The recent 8,850 square kilometer reduction of the Amazon forest, exacerbated by climate change, has resulted in a significant decrease in the ample benefits described in paragraph (3), in addition to the displacement of many indigenous peoples due to the lessened economic opportunity. Clear cutting has disrupted the habitat for plants and animals in the region, fracturing the fragile forest ecology by causing species to migrate and sometimes disappear. As of September 2020, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research reported that 45,067 fires have burned in the Amazon River basin and more than 63,000 fires have burned in all of Brazil in 2020.
The removal of trees from the Amazon River basin has decreased water and nutrient uptake, while increasing runoff with greater loads of both nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, deteriorating the quality of fresh water, and putting the environment at greater risk for disasters like flooding and landslides. The Government of Brazil has historically recognized the negative repercussions of deforestation via processes like clear cutting, which had facilitated Brazil’s establishment and maintenance of numerous successful conservation policies and payments for environmental service programs, such as— Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation projects, such as the Juma project in Amazonas and the Surui project in Acre and subnational-scale program in Acre and Mato Grosso, which seek to reduce global warming by stopping emissions related to deforestation; jurisdictional programs involving the collaboration of several groups, including farmers, government officials, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations, to achieve consensus on sustainability milestones; the Amazon Fund, which is primarily funded by the Government of Norway to implement payments for forest conservation activities; and the Bolsa Floresta program in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, which pays landowners and communities to help protect forest areas.
United States and multilateral cooperation efforts to protect and restore the Amazon have yielded significant beneficial impacts, such as— the reduction of deforestation by more than 80 percent; and the World Bank’s establishment of more than 25 percent of the areas protected from correspondence. The UNESCO World Heritage site verifies the importance of the Amazon River basin being one of the richest areas in the planet in terms of biodiversity, ecological and biological processes.
Deforestation and potential new policies could harmfully limit its natural resources if their benefits are not taken into serious consideration. It is the sense of Congress that— the President should— engage with the Government of Brazil, through bilateral and multilateral efforts, on its Amazon development and deforestation policies, in support of the Brazilian people’s and the private sector’s interest in conserving the Amazon rainforest; promote stewardship and conservation policies that support sustainable economic growth activities in the Amazon River basin; consider the Government of Brazil’s management and land use conversion of the Amazon River basin policies when assessing, negotiating, or developing new bilateral agreements with Brazil, including trade agreements, or engaging in relevant international forums; in the spirit of Brazil’s leadership hosting the 1992 Rio Summit, which led to the establishment of the UNFCCC, urge the Government of Brazil to enhance the ambition of Brazil’s efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions; and encourage the Government of Brazil, through bilateral and multilateral efforts, to immediately work proactively to address climate change and to promote low carbon and sustainable economic development; the United States Ambassador to Brazil should immediately engage with the Government of Brazil to support improvements to stewardship efforts of the Amazon rainforest and to assist with urgent efforts to combat fires burning across the Amazon River basin by— amplifying the Brazilian people’s concerns— about climate change and seeking opportunities for cooperative climate action through the United States-Brazil bilateral relationship; and with Brazil’s management and land use conversion policies affecting the Amazon River basin; reinforcing United States support for the important role civil society is playing to keep the public informed about the importance of Amazon conservation, particularly as it relates to regulating carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere; and offering support for efforts to combat fires in the Amazon River basin that are exacerbating Brazil’s environmental crisis; and the Secretary of the Treasury should provide financial and technical assistance to combat wildfires burning across the Brazil, including in the Amazon River basin.
The Secretary of State shall elevate bilateral engagements around cooperation and peer-to-peer accountability on Brazil’s climate action commitments by— supporting the efforts of the Government of Brazil to increase sustainable development of the Amazon region, including by strengthening environmental enforcement and ending illegal deforestation; encouraging the Government of Brazil to enforce its conservation laws, which include— restoring the responsibility of managing indigenous reserves and the demarcation of lands back to indigenous peoples; deescalating violence against indigenous peoples, prosecuting individuals and entities that threaten or harm indigenous peoples or communities, and maintain the National Indian Foundation; addressing activities that increase deforestation rates in the Amazon basin, which include— curtailing indigenous people’s land rights; and unsustainable cattle ranching, soy bean farming, mining, hydropower dam construction, and highway construction activities; threatening to degrade Brazil’s carbon emissions reductions commitments that are heavily based upon the conservation of Brazil’s rainforests; and addressing challenges for civil society to operate, oversee, and advocate for the continued conservation and restoration of the Amazon River basin; encouraging, to the maximum extent practicable, the Government of Brazil to develop and deliver ambitious pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement, while holding Brazil accountable for delivering on its commitments; supporting the voice of Brazilian civil society and the role civil society plays in advancing civil society’s efforts to protect Brazil’s natural resources and helping ensure civil society’s abilities to operate, oversee, and advocate for the continued conservation and restoration of the Amazon River basin; advancing the rights and protections of indigenous peoples whose communities, well-being, and opportunities for economic growth are frequently put at risk by deforestation, extractive industries, commercial scale agriculture, and hydropower dam construction; listening to and engaging with the people of Brazil on their country’s commitments to advancing conservation efforts in the Amazon River basin that allow for sustainable economic growth, while protecting the Amazon rainforest and Amazon River basin’s important and unique resources despite the proposed changes; renewing support for programs that support Amazonian nations, civil society, and local leaders, including indigenous communities, in maintaining critically important conservation efforts to protect and restore the Amazon River basin ecosystem; and supporting efforts by subnational governments and the private sector to advance sustainable development and reduce deforestation in the Amazon region.