Amazon rainforest nations emerged from a summit this week with a stronger hand to play at upcoming United Nations climate talks, despite the meeting's lackluster final agreement, according to environmental groups. In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, the Amazon countries dashed expectations for a shared 2030 target to eliminate deforestation, with the accord lacking specific plans to tackle illegal gold mining or provisions for ending oil drilling in the region. But they united around a demand for rich countries to pay for forest conservation, acknowledging an historic responsibility for climate change – a call joined by other rainforest peers, including Indonesia, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and others in a second accord on Wednesday.