Amazon Week 2024:
What is the value of nature?
Berlin, Brussels, and Paris
September 16-27, 2024
The Amazon rainforest generates 20 billion tons of water vapor daily, along with 200 million liters of water per second flowing into the Atlantic Ocean through the Amazon River, the largest freshwater river in the world. To replicate the volume of water conveyed by the Amazon's "flying rivers" using existing technology, we would need to construct over 50 thousand hydroelectric plants akin to Itaipu, the world's third-largest hydroelectric facility.
This phenomenon highlights more than just the staggering numerical dimensions associated with the Amazon. Beyond its vast territory and natural splendor, the ecosystem provides invaluable benefits to humanity without additional costs, contributing significantly to global climate equilibrium. These are services rendered by the forest that cannot be replaced even by cutting-edge technologies available to us. Any disruption due to a temperature increase exceeding 1.5°C would lead to severe socioeconomic repercussions. Examples like those involving the "flying rivers" prompt us to ponder: what is the true value of nature?
Moreover, the Amazon boasts immense cultural diversity. Spanning nine countries, it houses 50 million inhabitants, including 400 indigenous groups speaking over 300 languages. Much of our understanding of local biodiversity hinges on preserving these languages and traditional wisdom. In 2016, the Matsés people from the Peruvian Amazon published a 500-page encyclopedia detailing their traditional medicinal knowledge in native tongue. What is the value of such knowledge? Without aligning conservation efforts with economic activities, forest preservation remains challenging.
Various studies indicate that integrating technology and sustainable infrastructure could enable the Amazon to develop sectors like agriculture, tourism, mining, and the bioeconomy while adhering to the Paris Agreement and ensuring a just social transition. Amazon Week 2024 seeks to facilitate discussions on forest conservation, climate protection, and socioeconomic development in the Amazon region. The initiative is organized by Brazilian embassies in Berlin, Brussels and Paris, along with the Brazilian mission to the European Union and other Amazonian countries' embassies.