AMAZONIA SECURITY AGENDA

This policy brief analyzes the coherence of national development, conservation, and climate policies in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru using a water-energy-food (WEF) nexus approach. It identifies significant trade-offs between ambitious renewable energy and agricultural targets and the preservation of the Amazon biome's ecosystem services, which are critical for regional water, food, and energy security.

• The expansion of biofuels and hydropower to meet national energy and climate goals often conflicts with forest conservation and water security. In Peru, 72% of oil palm expansion has occurred at the expense of forest ecosystems. In Brazil, future renewable energy plans include the installation of 12 dams with a total of 27 thousand MW in the Amazon, which may exacerbate local water and food security risks and lead to biodiversity loss and community displacement.
• Agricultural expansion, particularly monocultures like soy and sugar cane, threatens long-term sustainability and local food security. In Brazil's MaToPiBa region (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia), soy expansion has increased groundwater demands. Furthermore, replacing forests with agriculture undermines essential ecosystem services such as water regulation and nutrient recycling, which are vital since most biofuel and food crops in the region are rain-fed.
• There is a lack of vertical policy coherence between national commitments and subnational development agendas. While some areas show strong alignment, departments in the Peruvian Amazon, such as Loreto and Ucayali, have intensified agribusiness (specifically palm oil) due to national and subnational policies, contradicting national zero deforestation objectives.
• Public-private initiatives have shown success in decoupling supply chains from deforestation, most notably the 2006 soy moratorium in Brazil. This commitment, supported by traders and civil society, has resulted in deforestation directly caused by soy cultivation in the Amazon being estimated at less than 1% of total deforestation.
• Significant barriers hinder the transition to sustainable production for smallholders, including a lack of access to finance and technical support. Credit access is often tied to farm size and land tenure certificates, which effectively excludes small-scale producers.
• The document recommends a new 'security agenda' for Amazonia that moves beyond traditional national security to focus on the sustained access to water, energy, and food. This requires strengthening integrated water management, improving supply chain transparency, and utilizing granular zoning and land use plans to align development with socio-ecological capacity.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2016). AMAZONIA SECURITY AGENDA. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Amazonia-regional-policy-coherence.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. AMAZONIA SECURITY AGENDA. 2016. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Amazonia-regional-policy-coherence.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=AMAZONIA SECURITY AGENDA |date=July 2016 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Amazonia-regional-policy-coherence.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2016amazonia, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{AMAZONIA SECURITY AGENDA}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2016}, month = jul, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Amazonia-regional-policy-coherence.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }