Water governance in the Amazon basin

Matilde de Souza and Victor Nascimento

Logos of the Amazon Dialogue and Amazon Summit events. Source: OTCA, 2023

Between August 8 and 9, 2023, the IV Meeting of the Presidents of the States Parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, also called the Amazon Summit, took place in Belém do Pará. The meeting included the eight member states of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) — Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, besides representatives of international organizations and civil society. Intending to strengthen the Organization, whose headquarters are in Brasilia, the Summit adopted the Declaration of Belém, a document aimed at cooperation concerning sustainable development in the region, emphasizing aspects such as the protection of the Amazon River basin (CÚPULA…, 2023a).

Before the Summit, between August 4 and 6, the Amazon Dialogues event took place, promoted by the Brazilian government, and aimed, above all, at civil society and Amazonian indigenous peoples, in addition to representatives of the countries in the region. We start from these emblematic events to propose, in this article, a contextualization of the governance of water resources in the Amazon region. In addition to the performance of the ACTO in this topic, we will address the structures of the leading countries in the region, and how climate change impacts the Amazon region, intensifying the urgency for the adoption of joint actions.

The Amazon region is fundamental for regulating humidity and rainfall in the South American subcontinent. The forest’s evapotranspiration connects with the waters of the Plata basin. It takes moisture to Brazilian regions, such as the Southeast, Midwest, and South, as well as to countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In these areas, a significant part of the population of South America is located, in addition to fundamental economic activities for the region. Thus, the preservation of the Amazon basin is necessary not only for these reasons but also because, in recent years, extreme weather events caused by climate change have impacted the region and, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), such events tend to increase (COSTA, 2021; IPCC, 2022).

Each of the Amazonian countries has a national structure for the governance of water resources. In Bolivia, the legislation that originated the environmental policy, including that of water resources, dates from 1992. This responsibility lies with Autoridad de Fiscalización y de Control Social del Água Potable y Saneamiento (AAPS), which is part of the Ministério de Medio Ambiente y Agua (BOLÍVIA, 1992). In Peru, the legislation that organizes the Sistema de Gestión Ambiental is from 2005 and is responsible for establishing Ministerio de Medio Ambiente (MINAM). However, the Autoridad Nacional del Agua, the body responsible for the country’s water resources, is part of the Ministerio del Desarrollo Agrario y Irrigación (MIDAGRI) (PERU, 2009).

The Brazilian case finds some similarities with neighboring countries. It is similar to Peru which the Agência Nacional de Águas (ANA), created in 2000, is currently not under the responsibility of the Ministério do Meio Ambiente e da Mudança do Clima (MMA), but the Ministério da Integração e do Desenvolvimento Regional (MIDR). It is also similar to the fact that a significant part of the structures for environmental protection and governance of water resources are from the 1990s or the 2000s, such as the MMA itself, which is from 1992, and the Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos (PNRH), which is from 1997 (BRASIL, 2000; BRASIL, 1997).

Still, in the case of Brazil, there is the initiative Forum of Governors of the Legal Amazon, created in 2008, also based in Brasília, and composed of the nine Brazilian Amazonian states. The forum meets annually and, in June 2023, at the end of the 25th meeting, held in the capital of Mato Grosso, the Letter of Cuiabá was released. Although it does not mention the region’s water resources, the Letter expresses the states’ concern with the region’s Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions and the importance of a sustainable energy matrix. (CARTA…, 2023). However, there is a latent challenge for the Brazilian states to adopt joint goals in these areas since they are subject to the political-ideological orientation of the acting governors.

As mentioned, one of the challenges facing the region is climate change. Let’s consider the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the countries in the region, for example, those with large parts of their territories occupied by the Amazon basin — Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Even though there are proposals aimed at protecting water resources in the medium and long term, there is little or no direct mention of the basin. Brazil and Peru do not even address the region in their documents, and Bolivia and Colombia bring findings about the pressure suffered in the region but do not direct specific goals for its protection (ESTADO…, 2022; FEDERATIVE…, 2022; GOBIERNO…, 2021; GOBIERNO…, 2020. ).

At the end of the Amazon Dialogues event mentioned above, the ministers of the environment of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, Marina Silva, Susana Muhamad, and Nancy Chauca Vásquez, respectively, jointly declared that the agreement to be signed at the end of the Summit should, obligatorily, include the Amazon point of no return and measures to avoid it. This point is a term used to represent when the forest may lose its ability to self-regenerate due to global warming and environmental degradation. For some experts, this collapse could occur as early as 2029 (CÚPULA…, 2023b; AMAZÔNIA…, 2023).

It is foreseen in the Treaty that gave rise to ACTO that the Organization seeks to promote joint actions focused on environmental preservation and the rational use of forest resources. However, there is no clarity about what this “rational use” would be. Furthermore, the Organization has a series of projects already executed and in progress, several of which involve the governance of water resources, as is the case of the 2010 Strategic Agenda for Amazonian Cooperation, in which these resources appear as a priority topic (OTCA, s/d). However, although they propose to carry out shared management, there needs to be more evidence to prove their success.

In the Declaration there are several references to water. It is worth emphasizing the indication of “creating the Network of Water Authorities of the States Parties to ACTO for cooperation in the sustainable management of water resources in the region” (DECLARAÇÃO…, 2023, s/p), which, added to other proposals, shows the intention to propose joint initiatives for governance, something that, as shown, is perhaps ACTO’s greatest weakness. However, although the Declaration included topics such as climate change, the point of no return, and the fight against deforestation — there was even agreement with the creation of the Amazon Alliance to Combat Deforestation, there is a failure to define unique goals between the countries.

Note

This article was produced within the scope of the research “A gestão dos recursos hídricos em Brasil, China e Índia: a atuação dos países emergentes em bacias transfronteiriças dentro do arcabouço internacional de governança hídrica e mudanças climáticas” funded by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado of Minas Gerais — Fapemig, through the agreement CSA APQ 03349–18, and linked to the Department of International Relations of PUC Minas.

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About the authors

Matilde de Souza: Doutora em Ciências Humanas pela UFMG. Professora do Departamento e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Relações Internacionais da PUC Minas. Bolsista do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico — Brasil (CNPq).

Victor Nascimento: Doutorando em Relações Internacionais pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Relações Internacionais da PUC Minas.