Brazil Loses World Cup, Will It Rise as Clean Energy Champion? | Amazon Watch
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Brazil Loses World Cup, Will It Rise as Clean Energy Champion?

Get the ball rolling on clean energy in Brazil

July 10, 2014 | Maira Irigaray | Eye on the Amazon

Amazon Watch recently accompanied Hungarian documentary team On the Spot to produce this short video of Xikrin-Kayapó community members playing “Soccket” soccer while promoting clean energy as an alternative to dirty dams in the Amazon. Watch & share!

Despite Brazil’s devastating loss to Germany in the World Cup semi-final, Brazil still has a chance to be a world champion in clean and renewable energy rather than continuing to rely on destructive and outdated hydroelectric dams like Belo Monte. Just look at Germany, a nation that already provides a prime example of global clean energy leadership: non-hydro renewables, including solar and wind, made up 27 percent of the country’s electricity in the first half of 2014. A timely transition to truly clean and renewable energy isn’t only possible, it is imperative to preserve the Amazon and ensure the survival of the diverse indigenous peoples who call the region home.

Just before the World Cup began, Amazon Watch spent 10 days in the Poti-Krô village of the Xikrin-Kayapó people located on the Bacajá River, a tributary to the Xingu River, which is currently being destroyed by the Belo Monte dam. While there, we accompanied On the Spot, an award-winning Hungarian documentary production team, who helped produce a short video of community members playing soccer while promoting clean energy as an alternative to dirty dams in the Amazon.

Poti-Krô community members played with a Soccket, a ball that generates energy from 30 minutes of play and converts it into hours of electrical energy that can be used to power small appliances, such as an LED lamp. This ball not only generates energy, it generates hope for the Xikrin-Kayapó who continue to be engaged in a daily struggle because of devastating impacts of the Belo Monte dam. Soccket is just one symbol of hope that energy alternatives and a new vision for economic development are possible in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.

Join our partners in calling for a clean and renewable energy revolution in Brazil!

LET’S GET THE BALL ROLLING ON CLEAN ENERGY!

Special thanks to Music for Relief, Uncharted Play and On the Spot Productions for supporting this effort.

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