Inhabitants of the Amazon have created a comprehensive plan to prevent climate and ecological collapse, focusing on ending fossil fuel subsidies and securing Indigenous land rights.
Katie Surma reports for Inside Climate News.
In short:
- The Pan-Amazon Social Forum (FOSPA) gathered Indigenous and local communities to discuss strategies to protect the Amazon rainforest.
- Participants criticized international climate talks and emphasized the need for direct action and local knowledge.
- The proposed plan includes ending fossil fuel subsidies, securing land rights and prioritizing biodiversity hotspots for conservation.
Key quote:
“We are being suffocated by large enterprises.”
— Vanuza Abacatal, leader of a Quilombola community in Para, Brazil.
Why this matters:
The Amazon rainforest plays a critical role in regulating the global climate, and study after study have shown that Indigenous communities with secure land tenure have the best conservation outcomes, even compared to national parks. However, the rainforest faces unprecedented threats from deforestation, illegal mining and oil extraction. Indigenous leaders argue that continuing to support fossil fuel industries through government subsidies only exacerbates these threats, accelerating the pace of ecological destruction and climate change.
