Eight South American countries fail to agree on a common goal to save the critically vulnerable Amazon from deforestation after the summit in Brazil on Tuesday. This is a worrying development as the world’s largest rainforest acts as a key buffer against the climate crisis, according to CNN.

It was the first time in more than a decade that member states of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) met, aiming to set clear goals to avoid a point of no return for the vital rainforest.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva he supported a common regional policy to end deforestation by 2030, promising that his country would reach zero deforestation.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased rapidly under Lula da Silva’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and some scientists have warned that the rainforest may be approaching a critical tipping point that could turn into a grassy savannah, with huge consequences. on biodiversity and the climate crisis.

“We haven’t done 14 years. This is the first time we have met here in and the first time in the context of a serious deterioration of the climate crisis,” Lula da Silva said during his opening speech on Tuesday in the Brazilian city of Belem.

“It has never been more urgent to continue and expand this partnership. The challenges of our time and the opportunities that lie ahead require joint action.”

The President of Brazil and heads of state from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, along with top officials from Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname signed a list of environmental efforts, called the Belem Declaration, to “promote a new common agenda to protect the Amazon.”

The 113-point cooperation agenda includes the creation of an Amazon Alliance to Combat Deforestation among States Parties, “with the aim of stopping the destruction of the Amazon before the point of no return,” according to a government news release of Brazil.