Representatives of the Amazon forest’s several million inhabitants gathered in Lima recently to demand that their governments act on the scientific evidence that Amazon natives are best placed to conserve the forests they live in. Please sign this petition in support of their demand.
The loss of global forests each year contributes more to climate change than vehicle emissions. A report by the World Resources Institute has stated that investing in secure land rights for indigenous peoples in the Amazon forest is one of the most cost-effective ways of tackling climate change.
Helen Ding, an environmental economist and a lead author of the report, said: “Securing land rights for indigenous communities in the Amazon truly would have a global impact. In terms of global carbon mitigation, there are billions of dollars to be gained from slowing deforestation and sequestering carbon in indigenous forests.”
During the drafting of the Paris accord, recognition of indigenous rights was relegated from being a legally binding and enforceable part of the text to a non-binding suggestion. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN special rapporteur for indigenous peoples, is one of many calling for the text to be changed.
Please sign this petition to add your voice to the demand for secure land for indigenous Amazon communities as a binding part of the Paris accord. Immediate, evidence-led action on climate change is needed NOW for protecting every member of our global community. If enough of us sign this petition it will let our leaders know that we all want them to act in the interests of the planet and our safety, and to grant indigenous Amazonians the land rights that will allow them to protect this vital part of our ecosystem.
Michel Temer, Prime Minister of Brazil
and
All other signatories of the Paris Agreement:
I am writing today to urge you to grant land rights to the indigenous population of the Amazon rainforest, in light of reports that show that its conservation is most effectively and economically possible in their hands.
The Paris Agreement aims to keep global temperatures below a catastrophic 2 degree rise, and preferably 1.5, but we have already hit 1.5 degrees. Forests are vital in the right against runaway climate change, but we are losing the Amazon at a dangerous rate. NOW is the time for strong and effective action, not for watered down compromises.
Rarely have so few people held the lives of so many in their hands, and we the global community need you to act to save our fragile home.
[Your comments]
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
