Somos Amazonía – CIDSE

Somos Amazonía

ALBOAN AND ENTRECULTURAS LAUNCH A CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT THE AMAZON AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES FROM CORPORATE ABUSE

On April 21st, on the eve of World Earth Day, Jesuit NGOs Alboan and Entreculturas launched the campaign “Somos Amazonía”, to spread awareness of the link between socio-environmental conflicts and global production and consumption chains and mobilise calls from civil society for a more just, equal and sustainable world.

The campaign aims to support civil society organisations, indigenous movements and the Church in their struggle to protect human rights and promote socio-environmental justice. Alboan and Entreculturas plan to raise awareness about the harm that corporations inflict on people and the environment and to accompany indigenous communities in their efforts to preserve their traditional lifestyles, cultures and identities. To do so, they will support several projects initiated by allied organisations that operate in the region.

This need for mobilisation stems from the widespread environmental degradation that the Amazon is enduring. The unregulated activities of extractivist corporations in the Amazon result in deforestation, biodiversity loss and the depletion of natural resources, which are increasing at an alarming rate. As pointed out by the latest IPCC report, halting deforestation in the Amazon is crucial in order to prevent dangerous climate change and further global warming.

As the Pope emphasised in his Post-Synodal Exhortation “Querida Amazonia”, local communities are bearing the brunt of the damage that is being inflicted on the rainforest. In particular, human rights and environmental defenders, indigenous peoples and women who oppose the exploitation of the Amazon have been targeted and criminalised for their activism.

Alongside the campaign, Alboan and Entreculturas published the report “Somos Amazonía, claves ecofeministas para la defensa de la Amazonía” (“We are the Amazon, eco-feminist perspectives for the defence of the Amazon”) and launched a petition calling for European legislation to protect the environment and indigenous peoples’ human rights from the harm caused by corporations and to remove barriers to justice for victims of corporate abuse, echoing CIDSE’s access to justice campaign. The petition will call on EU legislators to improve the EU Commission’s proposal for a new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD). The petition can be signed at this link.

The campaign also includes the exhibition “Defensoras de la Naturaleza”, whose goal is to raise awareness about the link that connects Western lifestyles with deforestation and human rights violations in the Amazon. This nexus is illustrated through the stories of 10 women environmental defenders, narrated across 13 panels, which recount how global consumption chains harm the environment and the role played by women in the protection of natural resources. Information on how to book the exhibition, which can be held in places such as schools, community centres and civic organisations, can be found here.

Alboan and Entreculturas also provide educational material on socio-environmental and eco-feminist issues for children and teenagers, which can be accessed through this link.

You can share the campaign on social media with the hashtag #SomosAmazonía.

Alboan is a member of the CIDSE Working Group on Corporate Regulation


Photos: Somos Amazonía

Share this content on social media