Amazon Watch attended the Cancún climate talks where we worked to elevate the voices of our Amazonian Indigenous allies within spaces otherwise dominated by governments, corporations, and the World Bank. With our strategic and logistical support, leaders like Marlon Santi from Ecuador and Sonia Guajajara from Brazil brought their urgent message of demanding respect for indigenous rights to public protests, press conference, and strategy sessions.
After 2 weeks of negotiations, the UN climate summit concluded with an agreement that some hail as a victory because proposals such as a Green Climate Fund and REDD (Reduced Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation) were formally adopted. In the view of many of our Amazonian indigenous allies however, the Cancún agreement instead represents a likely threat to indigenous rights and tropical forests.
