Biotech

The Amazon needs help. Climate change and loss of biodiversity has brought together different parties. Individuals, public and private organizations, ...

[https://embrapii.org.br/en/unidades-embrapii/](https://embrapii.org.br/en/unidades-embrapii/). Embrapii is short for Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa e Inovação Industrial (Brazilian company for industrial research and innovation). The Vale Technological Institute (ITV), under the leadership of its scientific director, Guilherme Corrêa De Oliveira, has worked non-stop, with an international laboratory in Belém, to bring genomics and bioinformatics to the forefront of our bioeconomy.26 These business partners were interested in novel ideas that were based on Amazonian bioactive compounds, for the food (BRF), cosmetic (Natura), and pharmaceutical industries (Aché and Nintx). This project is a great example of a network of partners working on a common goal, a mixture of bold leadership, financing, collaboration and transparency. As published previously, since digital technologies became vogue, there is no lack of incubators, innovation hubs, and centers that have been working to promote new technology-based businesses.14 Many of these have created an Amazon- and/or bio-dedicated program (table II).](#_ftn13) The aim is to promote and structure productive systems that are (1) based on the sustainable use of socio-biodiversity and extractive resources and (2) the production and use of energy from renewable sources, allowing for their expansion. It should also be regarded as leverage, especially after the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) landmark agreement. The CBD has as main objectives: (1) the conservation of biological diversity, (2) the sustainable use of its components, and (3) the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources. The Nagoya Protocol, a supplementary agreement to the CBD, provides a legal framework seeking to effectively implement CBD’s third objective (“the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources”), allowing enforcement of national legislations abroad. Importantly, it is clear that the lack of commitment of the governments (federal, state, and municipal) turns working on shifting the current destructive path to a constructive one into a Sisyphus story. The legal Amazon is composed of nine Brazilian states and corresponds to 61 percent of the country’s territory.3 A large area that is diverse in the range of long-standing (and new) problems, the region contains challenges that can be overwhelming.