Indigenous Peoples Call for Global Agreement to Protect the Amazon and Climate by Respecting Rights at COP27 | Amazon Watch
Amazon Watch

Indigenous Peoples Call for Global Agreement to Protect the Amazon and Climate by Respecting Rights at COP27

November 4, 2022 | Media Advisory


Amazon Watch

For more information, contact:

presslist@amazonwatch.org or +1.510.281.9020

What: As the UNFCCC prepares to host COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt for COP27, Indigenous peoples from across the Amazon Basin and NGO allies are prepared to amplify calls for a global agreement to protect the Amazon and climate by respecting Indigenous rights and territories under threat. They include the Coordinating Body of Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous peoples (APIB), Brazil’s National Association of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA), the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative (ASHI), the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, Amazon Watch and many more who are traveling to Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt for COP27 to draw attention to extractive industries destroying the Amazon rainforest and threatening human rights across the biome.

Industrial mining, oil drilling, illicit economies, and deforestation pose existential threats to the rainforest and its inhabitants. During COP27, a particularly exclusive conference, Indigenous representation is critical to ensure that any agreement reflects the voices and solutions of Indigenous peoples and respects Indigenous rights.

The following Amazon Indigenous leaders, experts, and allies will be available for on-site interviews at COP27:

  • Gregorio Mirabal (Wakuenai Kurripaco) COICA, General Coordinator
  • Sonia Guajajara (Guajajara), Brazilian Congresswoman-elect, former APIB General Coordinator
  • Dinamam Tuxá (Tuxá), APIB General Coordinator
  • Domingo Peas (Achuar), CONFENIAE and Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative (ASHI)
  • Lolita Piyahuaje (Siekopai), CONFENIAE and Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative (ASHI)
  • Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Women Defenders of the Amazon Collective (Mujeres Amazonicas), President of Fundación Tiam, Amazon Watch Indigenous Advisor
  • Daniel Santi (Kichwa), International Representative for Tayjasaruta (Sarayaku’s governing body)
  • Nina Gualinga (Kichwa), Mujeres Amazonicas Collective member/international spokeswoman, Amazon Watch Women Defenders Program Coordinator
  • Helena Gualinga (Kichwa), Indigenous Youth Climate Justice Activist and co-founder of Polluters Out
  • Leo Cerda (Kichwa), Co-Founder Black Indigenous Liberation Movement
  • Jade Begay (Diné), Amazon Watch Board Member & Climate Justice Director, NDN Collective
  • Leila Salazar-López, Amazon Watch Executive Director
  • Atossa Soltani, Founder and Board President, Amazon Watch & Director of Global Strategy of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative
  • Belen Paez, Executive Secretary of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters 

For interviews or additional information: Please contact Leila Salazar-López on WhatsApp at +1 415 341 5509 or Ada Recinos at ada@amazonwatch.org.

Recommended Amazon Events at COP27

  • Press conference: Amazonia Against the Clock: Where and How to Protect 80% by 2025
    • Date and Time: Monday, Nov 7, 2022, at 17:30 GMT+2
    • Location: Luxor Press Conference Room, Area B, Sharm El-Sheikh Conference & Exhibition Center.
    • Live stream: COICA (Spanish) and Stand.earth (English)
  • Event: Forest One Amazon Event at NY Times Climate Hub
    • Date and Time: Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022, at 18:00 GMT+2
    • Location: NYT Climate Hub, Park Regency Sharm el Sheikh Resort
  • Panel: Indigenous vision for an ecological transition in the Amazon Sacred Headwaters of Ecuador and Peru
    • Date and Time: Thursday, Nov 10, 2022, at 14:00 GMT+2
    • Location: Booth M6, Green Zone 
  • Press Conference: Women Leading Fossil Fuel Divestment and A Just Transition
    • Date and Time: Thursday, Nov 10, 2022, at 15:30 – 16:00 GMT+2
    • Location: Press Conference Room 2, Blue Zone
  • Panel: Climate Justice with Ian Fry, Special Rapporteur on Climate and Human Rights
    • Date and Time: Friday, Nov 11, 2022, at 13:00 GMT+2
    • Location: Climate Justice Pavillion
  • Panel: Financing mechanisms for the Amazon: Towards better cooperation between Indigenous peoples and funders
    • Date and time: Saturday, Nov 12, 2022, at 10:00 GMT+2
    • Location: Hub Culture – Park Regency Hotel Sharm El Sheik
  • Panel: System Change Not Climate Change: How do we redesign our values?
    • Date and Time: Saturday, Nov 12, 2022, at 16:00 GMT+2
    • Location: Sharm El Sheik Museum
  • Press Conference: Indigenous Women from the Amazon: Calls for Urgent Action
    • Date and Time: Monday, Nov 14, 2022, at 15:00 GMT+2
    • Location: Press Conference Room 2, Blue Zone
  • Panel: Why direct and local climate financing for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities is urgent now
    • Date and time: Monday, Nov 14, 2022, at 11:30 GMT+2
    • Location: Room Thebes, Blue Zone
  • Side Event: Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Climate Change
    • Date and time: Tuesday, Nov 15, 2022, at 15:00 – 16:30 GMT+2
    • Location: Khufu Room, Blue Zone
  • Webinar: Global Voices and Women-Led Calls to Action in Response to COP27
    • Date and time: Thursday, Nov 17, 2022, at 19:00 – 21:00 GMT+2
    • Location: Virtual via Zoom — Register here.

Background

The Amazon rainforest is increasingly under threat. New scientific research published this fall by COICA, Stand.earth, and RAISG shows that deforestation and degradation have compromised the ecological integrity of 26 percent of the Amazon, and parts of the region are already at, or past, their ecological tipping point. An international coalition, Amazonia For Life, is calling for 80% of the Amazon to be protected by 2025, which can only happen if world leaders hold country governments, corporations, and financiers of Amazon destruction accountable.

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