The goal of the initiative is to begin reversing the negative effects that logging and agricultural clear-cutting have had in more than 60 million hectares of the world’s largest jungle. Ongoing deforestation is a “major driver” of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss, said the World Economic Forum in a statement, and the group’s efforts will push to halt those factors while promoting sustainable development.

“We are pleased to have a critical mass of companies and organizations joining these efforts.” – Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombian environmental minister

By 2020, the partnership is hoping to achieve “zero net deforestation” in the Colombian Amazon, and, by 2030, “to have stopped all natural forest loss,” according to the World Economic Forum.

Colombia has joined 14 other governments that have signed on as official Tropical Alliance 2020 partners, including Brazil, the United States, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

More recently, through a new domestic platform of public and private stakeholders, the country has launched the TFA 2020 Colombia Alliance. The first task in Colombia will be to tackle deforestation caused by the palm oil industry, which has come under fire in recent years in Colombia for harming the environment. In time, the efforts will extend to confront damage done by the timber, beef, and dairy sectors.

The alliance’s work will largely follow principles laid out in its “Commodities and Forests Agenda 2020,” which is supported by the partner governments and environmental groups such as World Wide Fund for Nature, Fondo Acción, and the Nature Conservancy. Several private companies operating in the country have also supported the efforts, including leading Colombian retailer Grupo Éxito, consumer goods giant Unilever, dairy firm Alqueria, and agricultural companies Poligrow and Yara International.

According to the World Economic Forum, Éxito was the first Colombian company to join the alliance in 2014. It has since worked to promote reforestation and sustainable agricultural development efforts within the Andean nation.

READ MORE: Exploration Projects in Colombia Face Uncertainty as Another Town Bans Mining

“We are pleased to have a critical mass of companies and organizations joining these efforts,” said Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombia’s minister of environment and sustainable development (MinAmbiente).

He highlighted recent governmental initiatives, including the “Palm Oil Zero Deforestation Agreement” and “National Forest and Carbon Monitoring System,” that have aligned with the goals of a Tropical Forest Alliance 2020. Such work “represents a key effort in bringing down international commitments to the Colombian context,” said the minister.

With around 1,900 different species of birds (the most of any country in the world), more than 50,000 species of plants, and many other forms of life, Colombia is the second most biodiverse nation after Brazil. In all, the medium-sized country is home to around 10% of the known species of plant and animal life on Earth.

Environmentalism has become increasingly common in the country over the past decade and advocates continue to clash with the private sector. A series of popular referendums have placed a prohibition on mining in various municipalities and more and more advocates are waging campaigns to protect cloud forest, páramo, and coastal ecosystems across Colombia.

Photo: The Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 is looking to stop deforestation in parts of the Amazon, such as this swath of jungle in the department of Vaupés near Mitú. (Credit: Jared Wade)

The 2013 and 2014 events saw participation from names such as the President of Davivienda Efrain Forero, President of Avianca Germán Efromovich, President of Cencosud Horst Paulmann, and this time, José Alberto Vélez from Grupo Argos, and Luis Carlos Botero of Team foods, have confirmed their participation, discussing their personal visions of leadership.

Carlos Alberto Moreno is head of the Colombia Presidents’ Forum

“With this encounter, we realize for the third consecutive occasion, the Presidents’ Forum seeks to consolidate in this space the country’s entrepreneurs for a unique and valuable moment of discussion and learning with panelists and their similar, valuable experiences to generate change and transcendence inside of organizations that are headed for greater success,” said Carlos Alberto Moreno, head of the Presidents’ Forum. “In this third version, after in 2014 having spoken of the experiences from the heads of these organizations constructing a future for the nation, we have focused this time on the histories and the deeds that occur day to day in the lives of these leaders, that inspire transformation in people, transformation that we see reflected positively in the leadership of their companies; for that we hope that the participants in this meeting will take away a message of change and reinvention.”

• José Alberto Vélez – President of Grupo Argos
• Carlos Enrique Cavelier – President of Alquería
• Fernando Rodés – Vice President & Partner of Havas Group (Spain)
• Luis Fernando Santos – Communications Consultant and ex director of El Tiempo
• Luis Alberto Botero – President of Team Foods
• Carlos Sierra – Founder of Twnel & specialist in web marketing and technology
• Eulalia Sanín – General Manager of Prospecta & specialist in corporate governance

The Presidents’ Forum is a community of leaders that promotes personal, business growth, and citizenship among its members who share their experiences and knowledge for development. The forum counts more than 180 members and for more than 25 years, it has worked for the development of its members in Bogotá and the rest of Colombia.