GCFTF promotes 1st Joint Knowledge Building Workshop for an Economic Transition in the Amazon
On December 3 and 4, in the city of Belém, Pará, the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCFTF) held the 1st Workshop on Joint Construction of Knowledge for an Economic Transition, with the participation of decision-makers from the state environmental and economic development agencies and specialists in the areas of biodiversity and bioeconomy from the states of the Legal Amazon. The Workshop was conceived, planned and carried out with the support of the Center for Advanced Amazonian Studies (NAEA) of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and the Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability of Pará (SEMAS), with financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI).
The design of the workshop was based on the fact that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the forestry sector makes only a small contribution to the economy of the states of the Legal Amazon, with the highest being 3.8% in the state of Tocantins and the lowest being 0.5% in the state of Acre; as well as the figures for the region’s main economic and development indicators. The need to take ownership of key aspects of economic dynamics in the Amazon and their connections with global dynamics is considered fundamental for improving state policies and specifically the economic components of plans to combat illegal deforestation, bioeconomy plans, planning for decarbonization pathways and strategies and action plans for biodiversity. Topics discussed during the meeting included examples and perspectives of economic instruments for environmental management and the favorable environment for the development of forest-based businesses, as well as the key aspects for the competitiveness of the regional economy.
The Secretaries of the Environment of the Amazon asked the GCFTF to design a space for dialogue and reflection that, starting with an introduction of basic economic concepts, to explore the knowledge acquired and lessons learned in the region over the last 30 years in building a forest-based economy that makes it possible to value the standing forest and the living forest, a goal developed through the GCFTF’s Manaus Action Plan for the New Forest Economy and further elaborated on in the recent Blueprint for the New Forest Economy launched in October 2024. The workshop also emphasized that environmental managers also need to act as dynamic agents in the multisectoral decision-making process, as they are most aware of the need to adjust the development model in order to achieve environmental and sustainable development goals and commitments made by the region and the country, as well as the forestry sector’s still incipient contribution to the regional economy.
The workshop covered basic economic concepts and their connections with environmental policies. Participating partners included non-governmental organizations such as WCS, WRI, IPAM and Instituto PCI, producer and innovation organizations such as the Instituto Amazônia 4.0 and ASSOBIO, public companies in the energy and oil sector such as Companhia de Gás do Maranhão, the Executive Secretariat of the Interstate Consortium of the Legal Amazon, EMBRAPA, the Secretariats of Bioeconomy and Control of Deforestation and Territorial Planning of the MMA and the Land Institute of Pará. USP’s School of Economics and Administration also contributed to the event’s planning and debates.