Ford Foundation Holds Thursday Panel on Tropical Forests and Indigenous People
World leaders gathered in New York City to sign the historic Paris Climate Agreement on Earth Day. On its first day available, a record 175 nations became signatories to the non-binding treaty, which is set to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming by 2100.
Just one day prior to such an historic event, the Ford Foundation hosted a panel briefing about communities of indigenous people who are striving to protect critical tropical forests. The focus of the panel was to discuss the role of the world’s nations in supporting these efforts in order to meet the goals of the landmark climate change agreement.
Present at the briefing were several indigenous leaders, a tropical forest expert, a UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) representative, and actor activist, Alec Baldwin. When asked what would happen if all the forests on earth were removed, Helen Clark, UNDP responded that “Forests act like the lungs of the planet, if we don’t have lungs, would we breathe?”
Forests: A Critical Part of Earth’s Climate
Others from the panel noted that forests are a critical part of the Earth’s climate, and indigenous people should be supported in their fight to protect them. Currently, even though many indigenous people have land rights, they are at risk every day from people seeking to exploit the natural resources the land holds, which are often destroyed in the process. In supporting local land rights, it also helps curb poverty and hunger, while having the added benefit of reducing climate change impacts.
The concern has been raised because, according to the non-profit NGO Global Witness, at least two people per week are being killed for trying to protect lands from environmental destruction, with [link url=”https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/how-many-more/” title=”nearly 40% of them being indigenous people“].
The highest number of killings have occurred in Brazil, with majority of the disputes stemming from mining, hydropower, and agri-business. According to the report, it is the corporate and state interests in pursuit of disappearing natural resources that are the alleged criminals indirectly responsible for the killings.
Seeking the Attention of World Leaders
The panel sought to draw the attention of the world leaders who were set to sign the historic Paris Climate Change agreement. The panel also sought to reveal the need for global support to safeguard land rights of indigenous people and to stop the killings, ensuring that nations do not ignore the issue, and to further help the goals of the climate change agreement to be met.
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