The Amazon Summit in Peru has called for the right to water.
The Amazon Water Summit brought together 300 participants from ten countries in Peru.
“Access to safe drinking water is a basic, fundamental and universal human right because it determines people’s survival; therefore, it is a prerequisite for exercising other human rights.”
(Pope Francis, Laudato si’ 30).
The Amazon Water Summit will take place from 1 to 3 October 2025 in Iquitos, Peru. This international summit seeks to give a voice to Amazonian peoples and to denounce the environmental crisis that threatens their aquatic ecosystems.
Born out of the Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos, this initiative is being carried out in collaboration with CELAM, REPAM, the Churches and Mining Network, and with the support of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Inspired by Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum, the Amazon Water Summit will bring together science, spirituality and indigenous peoples to address the concerns of Amazonian communities and transform them into a concrete commitment to caring for our Common Home.
Specifically, the Amazon Water Summit has three main objectives:
1) To raise awareness of the impact of the environmental crisis on the aquatic ecosystems of the western Amazon, which have been severely affected by oil extraction, deforestation, hydroelectric dams and illegal mining activities.
Secondly, to promote ecclesial and social collaboration for the protection of rivers and the recognition of the universal right to water and basic services.
The third objective is to share experiences and strengthen a culture of water care, paying special attention to Amazonian cities where access to safe water is insufficient.
Other expected outcomes of the Summit include the establishment of a network of Amazonian communicators to raise awareness among communities, an educational programme for children, adolescents and young people to promote knowledge and responsibility in water management, and a political and pastoral document presenting the requests of Amazonian communities to be shared at national and international forums.
According to the programme, the work will also culminate in a reflective document containing proposals in anticipation of COP30, which will take place from 10 to 21 November 2025 in Belém do Pará, Brazil.
