Photo: screengrab from the official website of Brasil 247

By Brasil 247 — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will travel to Bogotá on Thursday (August 21) to take part in the Fifth Summit of Heads of State of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). The meeting, hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, will be held Friday (August 22) at the Casa de Nariño, Colombia's presidential palace.

During the summit, Brazil will formally present its own initiative: the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF), estimated at $125 billion. Unlike traditional aid mechanisms, the TFFF is designed as an investment vehicle — contributors, whether countries or companies, will be remunerated annually at competitive market rates. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the initiative aims to secure long-term financing for developing countries that preserve tropical forests.

Trade Relations with Colombia

Between January and July 2025, bilateral trade between Brazil and Colombia totaled $3 billion, with Brazilian exports reaching $2 billion and imports $1.1 billion, generating a surplus of BRL 901.2 million for Brazil.

Brazil's main exports include passenger and cargo vehicles, auto parts, soy meal, and unroasted coffee, while imports from Colombia are led by coke and semi-coke from bituminous coal, as well as pesticides, fungicides, coal, vinyl polymers, and plastics.

Summit Agenda

The ACTO summit will bring together leaders from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. In addition to Lula and Petro, Ecuador's Vice President Verónica Abad and foreign ministers from across the region have confirmed attendance.

The summit builds on the Belém Declaration of 2023, which outlined over 110 action points in areas such as bioeconomy, public health, transnational crime prevention, and Indigenous participation. The new Bogotá Declaration is expected to assess progress since Belém, consolidate regional commitments, and help shape negotiations ahead of COP30, scheduled for 2025 in Belém, Brazil.

On Friday, Lula's schedule will include two phases: first, participation in the Regional Amazon Meeting, a dialogue platform with Indigenous peoples, civil society, academics, and community leaders; second, a closed-door session with heads of state, followed by a working lunch and the signing of the Bogotá Declaration.

Brazil's Regional Role

Brazilian diplomats stress that Lula's presence signals the continuity of Brazil's leadership in Amazon-related negotiations. Ambassador João Marcelo Galvão de Queiroz, director of the South America Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recalled that the 2023 Belém summit "was a Brazilian initiative that established a wide-ranging set of actions."

Patrick Luna, head of biodiversity at Brazil's Foreign Ministry, underlined the TFFF's innovative design:

"What is important to highlight is that contributions to the fund will not be donations, but investments. Both companies and countries will receive annual returns at competitive market rates."

Background on ACTO

Founded in 1995, the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization is the only socio-environmental bloc in Latin America, bringing together the eight Amazonian countries. With its Permanent Secretariat based in Brasília since 2003, ACTO works to promote cooperation across political, strategic, and technical dimensions, serving as a South-South platform for governments, civil society, academia, and multilateral organizations.

The Bogotá summit is expected to serve as a political and diplomatic milestone, strengthening regional coordination and projecting the Amazon onto the global climate and development agenda.

(Reported by Brasil 247 on August 19, 2025)