Press Releases

The U.S. Rejoining the Paris Agreement Must Be Accompanied by the Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Earth Defenders

"The Biden-Harris Administration's decision that the United States will re-join the Paris Agreement is an encouraging first step toward the fulfillment of its commitment to address the climate crisis. Among many urgent domestic and international actions to rapidly confront climate change, a multi-pronged policy for protecting the Amazon rainforest should be a high priority."

Brazilian Indigenous Leaders Issue Call for BlackRock to Adopt a Forests and Indigenous Rights Policy

The Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples sent an open letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, calling on the asset management firm to adopt a comprehensive Forests and Indigenous Rights policy. The letter comes days before the expected release of Fink's annual letter, in which he often announces policy changes at the companies BlackRock invests in and will announce a recent pledge from BlackRock to further clarify its approach to deforestation.

Defend Democracy! Denounce White Supremacy!

Amazon Watch Statement regarding the coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021

At Amazon Watch, we are deeply disturbed by the violence that threatened democracy and the peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America yesterday. As an international human rights and environmental organization based in the U.S., Amazon Watch denounces the white supremacist violence and attempted coup at the United States Capitol, incited by the President and some of his supporters in Congress. We support calls for urgent and immediate action, including the removal of President Trump from office.

Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon Spikes to 12-Year High

A 9.5 percent jump in Amazon deforestation since 2019 is closely linked to President Bolsonaro's anti-environmental agenda, threatening the future of the world's largest rainforest

""The unchecked destruction of the Brazilian Amazon under the Bolsonaro regime threatens not only the future of the forest, but our collective future as well. In today's vast levels of deforestation, we see the fruition of Bolsonaro's disastrous agenda. Environmental crime runs rampant as state environmental agencies are laid to waste. Every square mile of forest loss pushes the Amazon and the global climate closer to an irreversible tipping point."

Protecting the Amazon Rainforest Crucial to Climate Success for President-elect Biden

Environmental and human rights organization Amazon Watch recommends steps President-elect Biden can take to protect the Amazon rainforest and our climate

"The political and economic interests behind the destruction of the Amazon rainforest – including Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro – are losing a powerful ally with Trump’s election defeat. This is unequivocally good news for the rainforest and her peoples, which are under a sustained assault," said Leila Salazar-López, Amazon Watch Executive Director.

Statement on Violence and Deprivation of Freedom Against Forest Defender Salomé Aranda

As the network of Amazonian Women, we express our total rejection of violence and deprivation of liberty that Salomé Aranda – our sister, leader, and defender of the Amazon rainforest – is suffering. We demand her immediate release and that a transparent investigation be carried out on the situation of systematic violence that our sister has experienced at the hands of her partner.

American Financiers Invested More Than US$18 Billion in Companies Linked to Indigenous Rights Violations in the Brazilian Amazon

A new report exposes international financiers – including BlackRock, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Vanguard, Bank of America, and Dimensional Fund Advisors – invested in companies complicit in land conflicts with Indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon

Brasília, Brazil and Oakland, USA – U.S.-based financial institutions play a key role in enabling the destructive actions of companies linked to violations of Indigenous rights and conflicts in Indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon, according to a new report published today by the Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and Amazon Watch.

Amazonian Indigenous Leader Alessandra Korap Munduruku Wins RFK Human Rights Award

Indigenous Leader Alessandra Korap Munduruku Recognized for Longstanding Defense of Rights and Territories in the Brazilian Amazon

Washington, D.C. – Alessandra Korap Munduruku, a prominent Indigenous community leader from the Brazilian Amazon, will be recognized with the annual RFK Human Rights Award on Thursday, October 22nd. This global recognition comes among mounting threats targeting her and the Munduruku community, driven by illegal miners, loggers, and land grabbers, in a climate of impunity explicitly encouraged by the Bolsonaro government.