SPA Opened COP30 With Landmark Amazon Assessment Report 2025

Belém, Brazil – November 11, 2025 – The Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA), an initiative of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), opened its COP30 program with the launch of the Amazon Assessment Report 2025 – Connectivity of the Amazon for a Living Planet (AR2025). The publication represents the most comprehensive scientific analysis ever conducted on the Amazon region.

The report was built upon the landmark 2021 Amazon Assessment Report, hailed as an “encyclopedia” of the Amazon for its unprecedented scope, inclusion of Indigenous scientists, and transparent peer-reviewed process. Since then, SPA has also published 17 Policy Briefs bridging science and policy on critical issues for the region.

The new report underscores that the Amazon — home to more than 47 million people, including 2.2 million Indigenous Peoples, and around 13% of the world’s known species — is under escalating pressure. Land grabbing, illegal mining and logging, drug trafficking, and deforestation are destroying ecosystems, displacing communities, and fueling violence. Combined with climate change and destructive land use, these forces are pushing the Basin toward a tipping point that could irreversibly disrupt rainfall patterns, biodiversity, carbon storage, and human well-being.

“The Amazon is not only a regional concern — it is a global safeguard. The AR2025 provides the scientific foundation policymakers need to act decisively to conserve connectivity, stabilize the climate, protect biodiversity and ensure livelihoods,” stressed Dr. Carlos Nobre, SPA Co-Chair.

The 2025 Report explores the many dimensions of Amazonian connectivity, emphasizing that maintaining ecological and sociocultural connections is critical not only for safeguarding the Amazon but also for addressing the global climate crisis. While there are diverse pathways to achieve this goal, many powerful initiatives are already underway across the region. The report features a series of Calls to Action that highlight solutions currently under discussion or in implementation to address the most urgent challenges and sustain or restore Amazonian connectivity across different scales and timeframes.

Key recommendations from the report’s chapters and Calls to Action include halting deforestation, degradation, and wildfires; the dismantling of illegal economies; the expansion and protection of Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas; and the integration of science, technology, and Indigenous and Local Knowledge to advance nature-based solutions. The report calls for maintaining and conserving Amazon’s ecological and socio-cultural connectivity by creating enabling conditions that strengthen socio-bioeconomies, catalyse the transition to multifunctional production systems, and mobilize large-scale finance for the conservation and restoration of healthy standing forests and flowing rivers. Coordinated regional collaboration across borders, strong enforcement, and Indigenous and local leadership are also essential to safeguard connectivity, mitigate climate change, and maintain the Amazon as a connected system that supports life locally, regionally, and globally.

The SPA also presented the Amazonian Youth Manifesto, led by the Panel’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), and co-created by more than 200 young leaders and scientists from all Amazonian countries. The declaration reflected intergenerational demands and innovative solutions, positioning youth as essential actors in climate decision-making.

“The AR2025 and the Youth Manifesto are complementary: AR2025 offers rigorous science and evidence-based assessments and provides nature-based solutions, and the Manifesto brings the aspirations and urgency of new generations. Together, they strengthen the call to conserve the Basin and position Amazonian connectivity as central to climate mitigation and adaptation discussions,” noted Emma Torres, SDSN Vice President for the Americas.

By placing science at the forefront and youth engagement, the SPA underscored that solutions for the Amazon must be both knowledge-driven and intergenerational — grounded in local and Indigenous knowledge that has safeguarded the region for centuries. Together, these publications offer an essential contribution to COP30 and to global dialogues on climate, biodiversity, and sustainable futures.

About the SPA

The SPA, convened by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) in 2020, is the first high-level scientific initiative dedicated to the Amazon. With over 300 scientists, including Indigenous and local voices, the SPA delivers authoritative assessments and policy recommendations to address deforestation, climate change, and biodiversity loss and advance sustainable development. Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, President of the SDSN, is the convener of the SPA; Ms. Emma Torres is the strategic coordinator; and Dr. Carlos Nobre and Dr. Marielos Peña-Claros are the co-chairs.

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