Press Releases

Amazon Watch Response to Investor Statement on Amazon Deforestation and Fires

230 institutional investors from 30 different countries release joint statement calling for urgent action to protect the Amazon

"Next week is the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York. This would be the perfect moment for the U.S. financial institutions that have yet to take action for the Amazon to step up. To do otherwise would be to continue their complicity in Amazon destruction."

Amazon Watch Statement on Brazil-U.S. Amazon Plan

"It is absolutely preposterous to assert that private-sector 'development' in the Amazon is the way to protect the rainforest. To the contrary, private-sector 'development' is the cause of Amazon destruction. Further industrial expansion in the rainforest will undoubtedly drive further deforestation, pushing the Amazon closer to the ecological tipping point that scientists warn will totally destroy it."

Amazon Fires Inspire Global Day of Action to Hold Politicians and Corporations Accountable

Oakland, CA – Following dozens of demonstrations across six continents advocating for the protection and preservation of the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous peoples, Amazon Watch today released a video with highlights from the Global Day of Action for the Amazon and launched a challenge to the global community to continue supporting the Amazon and indigenous peoples there.

Amazon Watch Statement on the "Amazon Pact" Issued Today by South American Leaders

"Responses to the Amazon fires will never be effective in protecting the rainforest unless they confront the key driver of Amazon deforestation: profit-seeking at the expense of the rights of forest peoples and environmental protection."

Global Day of Action for the Amazon: Activations Across Six Continents

Today, Amazon Watch, the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), and Extinction Rebellion mobilized dozens of demonstrations in over twenty countries across six continents in a Global Day of Action for the Amazon. These non-violent, peaceful demonstrations around the world shine a light on the cycle of political corruption and profiteering of the Brazilian government and multinational corporations at the expense of the Amazon rainforest, its indigenous peoples, and the future of our planet.

As the Amazon Burns, BlackRock Named As World's Largest Investor in Deforestation

"The fires currently raging in the Amazon clearly demonstrate the risk that agribusiness expansion poses for the Amazon rainforest, indigenous peoples, and the global climate. By expanding investments in the very industries complicit in that destruction, BlackRock is emboldening right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro to continue his quest to raze the Amazon for profit-making," said Moira Birss, Finance Campaign Director of Amazon Watch.

Amazon Watch and Allies Issue Call for Global Day of Action for the Amazon on September 5th

Washington, DC – Amid the unprecedented raging fires across the Amazon, Amazon Watch is turning international outrage into action. Together, with Extinction Rebellion and the National Indigenous Association of Brazil (APIB), Amazon Watch, the leading global organization in defending the Amazon rainforest and the rights of its indigenous peoples, is calling on the international community to take to the streets: peacefully organize, demonstrate, and march to preserve and protect the Amazon rainforest and our planet.

Forest Offsets Not a Solution to Brazil's Fires

"These policies are the 21st century version of colonialism, resulting in the exploitation and eviction of indigenous communities from their homes all the while those in California can feel good about their continued emissions at home," said Kevin Koenig, Amazon Watch's Climate and Energy Director.

Note of Condemnation from the Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples (APIB)

We need immense national and international solidarity to face this dark time. We are asking for help and support from national and international institutions to ensure that laws, justice and international treaties that Brazil has signed are respected.