On September 13 and 14, IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) participated in the 2nd Brazil–China Symposium on Forests and Nature in Hangzhou, China. The event, organized in partnership with Jiliang University and UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), brought together researchers, government representatives, financial institutions, companies, and international organizations to strengthen cooperation between the two countries on issues such as forest protection, biodiversity, food security, sustainable agriculture, financing, and the implementation of public policies. The 2026 edition built on the first symposium, held in Brasília in 2025, and sought to move beyond dialogue toward concrete cooperative actions.
André Guimarães, executive director of IPAM, participated in various parts of the program. At the opening, he provided a retrospective on the journey from the Brasília meeting to the Hangzhou event, highlighting the evolution of the bilateral agenda. Guimarães also participated in the panel that discussed what the current decade—in which the 1.5°C target has been exceeded—demands of cooperation between Brazil and China. On the second day, he delivered a presentation on land use, sustainable agriculture, and forest protection, addressing the role of nature in food production and the role of forests in agricultural resilience and food security in the face of worsening climate change.
The relationship between forests, food security, and Brazil–China agricultural trade was also at the center of the debates. Moderated by André Guimarães, the panel brought together experts to discuss how to increase the resilience of food production and trade without increasing pressure on forests and biodiversity. Among the topics addressed were the dynamics of deforestation and agricultural expansion, the traceability of supply chains, Chinese demand for soybeans, sustainability standards in bilateral trade, and the transition of tropical agriculture toward regenerative and organic models.
“We’ve crossed the 1.5°C temperature threshold, but that’s not the end of the Paris Agreement. The faster we act, the faster we’ll get back on track. To do this, we must cooperate, and Brazil and China are two natural players in this process: two major leaders from the Global South who need to work together,” Guimarães stated during the event.
The program was organized around three themes: finance; science; and public policy and implementation. In addition to debates on financing for forest protection and restoration, carbon markets, ecological compensation, and investments, the meeting fostered discussions aimed at building a joint scientific agenda and identified opportunities for exchange, pilot projects, and tools that could be developed by both countries. The closing session consolidated priorities for the 2026–2027 work program of the China–Brazil and defined messages to be included on the agendas of COP17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, taking place in October in Mongolia, and COP31 of the Climate Convention, to be held in November in Antalya, Turkey.
For IPAM, the symposium reinforced the importance of bringing together science, public policy, financing, and the productive sector to address challenges that directly link forest conservation to food production and economic development. Cooperation between Brazil and China was highlighted as an opportunity to combine scientific knowledge, implementation experiences, and financial instruments capable of promoting more resilient productive landscapes and reducing pressure on ecosystems.