The Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA) convened to organize its work for 2020
NEW YORK – December 16, 2019 – The Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA) convened for its first virtual meeting to organize its work to issue its scientific report in the last quarter of 2020 and to develop a communication and engagement strategy.
As agreed at the Amazon Scientists Meeting held in September 2019at the United Nations in New York, more than 40 scientists and researchers from the eight Amazonian countries and one territory, as well as global partners convened to discuss how the scientific community engaged in the Amazon can contribute to prevent it from reaching a tipping point and how to mobilize different perspectives to help change the current direction towards a sustainable Amazon.
The Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA) is convened under the auspices of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). The main goal of the SPA will be to provide, on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis, information for a rigorous scientific assessment of the state of the diverse Amazon ecosystems, trends and implications for long-term well-being of the region, as well as explore opportunities and policy relevant options for conservation and sustainable development of the Amazon.
A virtual meeting was held on Monday, December 16 and was moderated by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the SDSN, and Dr. Carlos Nobre, Scientific Director of the National Institute for Climate Change Research (Brazil) and Co-chair of the SPA.
Prof. Sachs stressed the need for a collective voice to help inform the public, both in the Amazon region and globally, and ensure a meaningful consensus when presenting the planned assessment to governments and business leaders. He also mentioned the importance of having the Panel be led by and have a vision from within the Amazon region.
Dr. Nobre added that a commitment to responsible advocacy, one that is scientifically-based and robust, is needed to find sustainable solutions. The SPA’s other co-chair, Dr. Andrea Encalada, Director of the Aquatic Ecology Laboratory at the San Francisco of Quito University, stated that unifying scientists was important to assess the Amazon and identify solutions.
Discussions during the virtual meeting included the proposed organizational structure of the SPA, as well as a draft outline and timeline of the State of the Amazon report. The report will tentatively include sections focused on the Amazon as a regional entity of the Earth; land use, climate and demographic changes and their impacts on the basin; and potential pathways for a sustainable Amazon. The Panel will ensure that the main scientific areas relevant to the Amazon Biome’s functioning are covered, and engage central stakeholders, especially indigenous peoples and other Amazonian communities, given scientific and technical relevant expertise, considering a geographical and gender balance.
The first in-person meeting of the SPA will be held from March 19-21, 2020 in Bogotá and Leticia, Colombia, followed by another in-person meeting in Manaus, Brazil in late June or early July. The report is expected to be launched in the last quarter of 2020.