Letter from Parliamentarians to the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, as Host of ACTO

Mr. Gustavo Petro
President of the Republic of Colombia
Host of the 2025 ACTO Meeting

Dear Mr. President,

As the host of the upcoming meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), you hold a unique opportunity—and an undeniable responsibility—to guide the region toward decisive, concrete, and ambitious commitments to protect the Amazon. This summit takes place at a time when ecological and political threats to the biome are more urgent than ever, pushing this natural system closer to the so-called ‘point of no return.’

In Colombia, the alarming 43 percent increase in deforestation between 2023 and 2024 signals a dangerous setback in forest protection, with devastating consequences for biodiversity, climate stability, and Indigenous communities. At the same time, the absence of a permanent Minister of Environment creates uncertainty about Colombia’s leadership and continuity in environmental policy.

Across the region, other developments underscore the magnitude of the challenge:

• In Brazil, the so-called “Devastation Law,” which would weaken requirements for granting environmental licenses, threatens to accelerate oil and gas expansion in the Amazon, endangering both global climate goals and the survival of the biome.

• In Bolivia, in 2024, according to the Andean Amazon Monitoring Project, forest fires directly affected 779,960 hectares of Amazon forest—three times the figure of the previous year—placing Bolivia as the second most affected country by forest fires last year, after Brazil.

• Meanwhile, in Peru and Ecuador, so far in 2025, severe oil spills have contaminated rivers, threatening food and water security and violating the rights of Indigenous peoples whose cultures and economies are deeply tied to the forest. These are not isolated accidents but rather foreseeable consequences of an industry fundamentally incompatible with the long-term health of the Amazon.

Within this challenging context, there are also signs of hope. In recent weeks, four parliamentarians from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador jointly introduced bills to prohibit new oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the Amazon. This unprecedented regional action shows that political courage is possible, and that political will and cooperation can transcend borders to protect the planet’s most important terrestrial ecosystem.

Our request is clear:
We urge you to ensure that the Bogotá Declaration includes an explicit and unequivocal commitment to:
● Halt the expansion of oil and gas in the Amazon biome; and
● Develop a planned, fair, and time-bound roadmap for the progressive phase-out of current fossil fuel exploitation in the region.

Such commitments would send the world a signal that Colombia is ready to move from words to action, align its policies with climate science and the Paris Agreement, and secure the survival of the Amazon for future generations. In doing so, we are not only protecting one of the most important forests on Earth, but also answering the scientific call to reduce the number of fossil fuel extraction projects in these critical areas.

Mr. President, the world is watching Colombia. Governments, scientists, Indigenous peoples, and global civil society will measure the success of this ACTO meeting not by speeches, but by the strength and urgency of the binding commitments adopted. We urge you to seize this historic moment to reaffirm Colombia’s leadership in climate action, to promote ambitious regional agreements, and to unequivocally defend an Amazon free from fossil fuel expansion. The decisions you make today will resonate for generations, and they must be remembered by history as bold and transformative.

Sincerely,
Parliamentarians for a Fossil Free Future