Leaders should put the Amazon at the heart of a new green economy

Amazon nations meeting in Colombia can bring unified, bold commitments to COP30 – and define a model that prioritises people and planet through long-term prosperity

Patricia Espinosa is COP30 Special Envoy for Latin America and the Caribbean, CEO and Founding Partner of onepoint5 and former UNFCCC Executive Secretary.

From the cloud-crowned canopy of the Andes to the flowing arteries of the Amazon River, the Amazon biome is more than a rainforest. It is a cornerstone of planetary stability. It sustains the livelihoods and spiritual lives of over 400 Indigenous Peoples, regulates rainfall across South America, and stores more than 100 billion tons of carbon – equivalent to a decade of global emissions.

Today, this biome stands at a dangerous crossroads.

As leaders of Amazon nations prepare to gather for the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA) Heads of State Summit in Colombia this week, and the world turns its eyes to COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the moment is ripe for a renewed Amazonian compact – one that signals a decisive break from extractive models of the past and opens a path to prosperity rooted in nature, equity, and resilience.

A new paradigm is emerging

Despite geopolitical headwinds and a multilateral system under strain, countries across the Global South understand that the path to prosperity must include accelerated action on climate and nature, delivering jobs, food security, and economic renewal.

Developing and emerging economies have lost $525 billion over the past two decades due to extreme weather. By 2030, excessive heat is projected to reduce global working hours by 2.2% – a productivity loss equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs.

But the shift we are witnessing is not only about managing climate risks to protect economic development. It’s about understanding that building resilience delivers high returns – even when disaster doesn’t strike.

According to the World Resources Institute, every $1 invested in adaptation can yield over $10 in benefits – in the form of protected lives and infrastructure, higher productivity and crop yields, and preserved ecosystems.

In Brazil alone, meeting national restoration targets could generate 2.5 million new jobs. In Colombia, forest protection is improving security in former conflict zones. In Kenya, nature-based solutions are helping farmers manage rising temperatures while restoring ecosystems.

This is the “new economy” that is already being built. But to fully unlock its potential, we need coordinated leadership – and we need it now.

The Amazon: a global priority and regional opportunity

The Amazon is reaching a tipping point. Parts of the forest are drying, degrading, and emitting more carbon than they absorb. Deforestation and fossil fuel expansion in this biome are not just local threats – they are destabilizing regional rainfall, agricultural productivity, and the health and safety of millions.

Amazonian countries can and must change this trajectory. The upcoming OTCA Summit is a critical moment to announce concrete steps that deliver the Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement:

• Align the global push to phase out fossil fuels with regional ambition in the Amazon;
• Enforce zero illegal deforestation and halt land conversion, coupled with full recognition and protection of Indigenous and local community rights;
• Scale up restoration as well as sustainable and regenerative agriculture, delivering food security while turning degraded lands into engines of growth without expanding the agricultural frontier;
• Invest in clean energy and bioeconomy opportunities, to create dignified, green jobs for a generation hungry for opportunity.

These are not just social and environmental priorities, but a new and sustainable way to promote economic prosperity. This includes many innovative financial mechanisms that match the scale of the challenge like the Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF), which is designed to ensure that protecting forests becomes a stable and lasting source of value for the countries and communities that safeguard them, channeling at least 20% of direct finance to Indigenous Peoples – the frontline stewards of nature.

These priorities are economic, social, and security imperatives that go well beyond the Amazon region. Over 55% of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature. We know that a climate disaster in one place can ripple across supply chains everywhere, driving up consumer prices and contributing to a cost-of-living crisis.

From Colombia to Belém: Make COP30 a turning point

The Amazon Summit in Colombia and COP30 in Brazil are opportunities to elevate to the global level what people on the ground have understood for years: Building resilience to climate change is about much more than protection; it’s essential for economic stability, national security and social justice. As such, in a climate-changing world, adaptation becomes the heartbeat of innovation and development.

Countries of the Amazon region have a unique opportunity to lead this global transition. By building on the spirit of cooperation at OTCA, and arriving at COP30 with unified, bold commitments, they can set the global pace – and define a model of prosperity that prioritizes people and planet through long-term prosperity, not short-term profits.

The science is clear. The economics are compelling. The moral case is overwhelming. It is time to declare the Amazon as the heart of the new economy and to protect it as if our future depends on it. Because it does.

Cover photo:  Fisherman Raimundo Atanasio Ferreira Barbosa catches crabs in the Raposa mangroves that serve both as a critical tool against climate change and an economic lifeline for thousands of families who earn their livelihoods through fishing, gathering, eco-tourism, and beekeeping, in Maranhao state, Brazil May 2, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Adriano Machado)