13/05/2025
This summit is a fundamental milestone in the process of integration of the Colombian Amazonian departments in the cooperation between local government entities throughout the region.
Governors from the Amazon region of Colombia have gathered in Bogotá for the ‘Amazon Governors’ Summit’ to seal their integration into the Governors’ Climate and Forest Task Force (GCF). This process has been promoted by the Caquetá government and facilitated by the NGO Action for Forest, the GCF focal point in Colombia and the Amazonía+ programme. The summit was attended by the governors of Amazonas, Guainía, Guaviare, Putumayo and Vaupés. The European Union ambassador to Colombia, Gilles Bertrand, and the director of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit, Carlos Carrillo, also participated.
The Governors’ Climate and Forests Working Group was created in 2008 at the initiative of the California State government to provide a subnational government response to the problems of climate change and deforestation in the tropics. Initially formed by nine governments, the group now has 43 member governments, 22 of them from the Amazon region, including all the Amazonian states of Brazil and most of the Amazonian departments and provinces of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. With an agenda focused on the creation of new forest economies, the GCF works for the advocacy and empowerment of subnational governments at the global level, as well as the strengthening of their management capacities, access to finance and the incorporation of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in national and international policies related to forest management.
The six Colombian Amazonian departments have adopted a joint declaration in which they express to the GCF and the national government their commitment to the protection of the Amazon. The declaration outlines key actions such as bioeconomy, ecosystem restoration and the fight against illegality.
The summit culminated with the words of the EU ambassador: “Governors and mayors have a fundamental role in articulating the conservation of the Amazon and in promoting sustainable coexistence between the forest and the communities that live in contact with it. For this reason, the EU’s Amazon+ programme supports the empowerment of sub-national governments and the strengthening of their management. It is perfectly possible to stop deforestation, and at the same time improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the Amazon region, but we will only achieve this if we all work together.
