COP+ Journey Leaves Pará’s Industrial Legacy for the Amazon
- Maria Luiza Martins
- Sep 22
- 4 min read
A movement for a just transition in the Brazilian Amazon, the COP+ Journey, organized by the Federation of Industries of the State of Pará (FIEPA), does not carry the “plus” in its name by chance. While it revolves around the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, COP30, this multisector initiative goes far beyond the event itself. Through the work carried out in its committees and programs, the Journey is leaving a legacy for the region with a range of effective, long-term actions led by the productive sector.
Combat Illegal Deforestation and Burning
Through the Program to Combat Illegal Deforestation and Burning, the movement establishes commitments to fight the illegal activities that destroy the environment and hinder regional development. The action, led by the private sector, Pará industries, and agribusiness, begins this year and runs until 2030. “We will identify areas within Pará where livestock, agriculture, forest management, mining, palm, and many other activities are taking place, in order to involve the leaders at the forefront of these processes and achieve the expected results,” explains Deryck Martins, technical coordinator of the COP+ Journey.
Components of the Program to Combat Illegal Deforestation and Burning:
Diagnosis: Understanding the problems and damage to the business sector
Engagement: Involving companies, public authorities, and citizens in the actions
Direct Action: Identifying and reporting illegal deforestation and burning hotspots
The first sectors to engage are meat, timber, and grain. By the end of this year, a commitment letter will be delivered, signed by the sectors joining the program, with goals to combat illegal practices over the next three years. The initiative also aims to encourage sustainable production practices, incorporating technology, efficient management, and responsible governance, as well as ESG actions around large enterprises, training for small producers, and support for fire brigades.
“We are confronting the fact that illegal deforestation destroys the forest, pollutes rivers, and also erodes the Amazon’s reputation, with profound economic and geopolitical impacts. We in the industry reaffirm our commitment to be part of this task force to end illegal deforestation by 2030, with coordinated actions, broad social mobilization, and the engagement of all economic sectors.”
—Alex Carvalho, President of FIEPA and of the COP+ Journey
Circular Economy
Among the COP+ Journey’s legacies is also the creation of FIEPA’s Circular Economy Program. This permanent initiative aims to work alongside public authorities in developing policies for reverse logistics and solid waste management, focusing on the productive sector. Circular economy is the official theme of COP30.
The program plans to map and promote industrial best practices, provide training and awareness activities, and offer circularity solutions for industry. “Showcasing what is working is a way to value and publicize these initiatives, but also to attract and engage other industries. We will bring information and innovations in the field of circular economy so that industries can apply circular practices in their businesses,” explains Deryck Martins.
The COP+ Journey also aims to help build a state-level public policy on circular economy, aligned with federal legislation. “The legacy we will leave for the Amazon’s industry is the structuring of a more connected ecosystem, bringing together companies, government, academia, and civil society to join forces in generating innovation, increasing traceability, and transforming waste into opportunities for new markets,” highlights businesswoman Priscilla Vieira, leader of the circular economy committee.
Socio-Bioeconomy
In partnership with the Instituto Bem da Amazônia and the Center for Advanced Amazonian Studies at the Federal University of Pará (NAEA/UFPA), the COP+ Journey is also carrying out the Socio-Bioeconomy Program, designed to directly support the planning of more effective policies for an economy that preserves the standing forest and values the Amazon’s peoples.
The program also aims to diagnose industrial production and employment in this chain by conducting an in-depth study of the bioeconomy’s productive sector, its impact on job creation, and its trends. The goal is to guide strategic decisions and identify business opportunities. Among its initiatives is the creation of a georeferenced digital platform to map value chains, integrating a registry of producers, industries, and agribusinesses.
Technical reports will also be produced on the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the socio-bioeconomy. The idea is to provide public and private decision-makers with a solid basis for more responsible, informed actions. The program also includes the Bioeconomy Observatory, a monitoring and strategic analysis structure to guide public policies, investment decisions, and foster transparency in the sector.
The work uses the methodology developed by Professor Francisco de Assis Costa of NAEA/UFPA. A member of the COP+ Journey’s socio-bioeconomy program, Professor Danilo Araújo Fernandes, also a researcher at NAEA, explains that the method starts from local realities to calculate indicators such as bioeconomy GDP, job creation, remuneration, income distribution, and value added by production chains such as açaí, Brazil nuts, and cocoa. “These are metrics and a set of actors that do not appear in conventional statistics. We need to consider that the Amazon’s specific bioeconomy differs from the rest of the world,” he notes.
The program also intends to create a Development Plan for Industry designed for a future-oriented economy. According to the professor, the partnership with FIEPA stems from recognizing the importance of promoting bioeconomy. “We need more than just a transition; we need the development of an industry that harnesses the potential of this future economy, which takes biodiversity’s role into account,” he concludes.
Low-Carbon Industry
To support and inspire more sustainable actions in industry, the COP+ Journey also leaves behind key guiding documents. Among them is the “Decarbonization Manual for Amazonian Industry,” a guide for small and medium-sized enterprises offering best practices in sustainability, with a focus on decarbonization, valuing socio-bioeconomy, and combating illegal activities. The publication also showcases inspiring cases from the region’s productive sector.
Another outcome of the Journey is the collectively developed document “Guidelines for a Low-Carbon Industry,” which consolidates proposals for a just transition in the Brazilian Amazon. These proposals emerged from discussions by experts in ten working groups: Communication and Advocacy; Infrastructure and Logistics; Investment Attraction; Low-Carbon Economy; Women and Traditional Peoples; Socio-Bioeconomy; Circular Economy; Digital Transformation and Innovation; Energy Transition; and Value Chain Traceability.
The document is the result of meetings attended by 180 participants and led by 11 subject-matter experts. “We were able to focus on the root causes of the main challenges to promoting a low-carbon economy and developed short-, medium-, and long-term plans. This will help drive a low-carbon economy in the region,” says Leonardo Albiero Almeida, forestry engineer, carbon project coordinator at Ambipar Carbon Solutions, and one of the specialists involved in drafting the document.
