© Cumbre Amazónica del Agua
“Access to safe drinking water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights.”
Pope Francis, Laudato si’ 30
From October 1 to 3, 2025, the city of Iquitos (Peru) will host the Amazon Water Summit, an international summit that aims to give voice to the Amazonian people and denounce the environmental crisis that threatens their aquatic ecosystems.
The initiative was launched by the Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos, in collaboration with CELAM, REPAM, Red Iglesias y Minería, and with the support of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The Amazon Water Summit will be a meeting place for science, spirituality, and Indigenous peoples, inspired by Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum, to listen to the cry of the Amazonian communities and transform it into a concrete commitment to care for our Common Home.
The Amazon Water Summit has three main objectives:
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.
To promote ecclesial and social collaboration for the protection of rivers and the recognition of the universal right to water and basic services.
To share experiences and build a culture of care for water, with particular attention to Amazonian cities where access to safe water is dramatically insufficient.
Among the expected outcomes of the Summit are: the creation of a network of Amazonian communicators to raise awareness among communities; an educational program for children, adolescents, and young people, aimed at spreading knowledge and responsibility for water management; and a political and pastoral document that collects the requests of Amazonian communities, to be presented in national and international forums.
According to the program, the work will also result in a document of reflection and proposals in view of COP30, to be held from November 10 to 21, 2025, in Belém do Pará, Brazil.
