The Amazon Reef Defenders have made history. This young but massive global movement has won against one of the most powerful companies in the world: Total will not drill near the Amazon Reef in Brazil!
The Brazilian environmental agency (Ibama) has finally denied the license to the company, and we’ve had a crucial role in this historic decision.
Now it’s time to celebrate, and also to acknowledge and share all the achievements of this movement to inspire and create an even bigger movement to end the age of oil.
Less than two years ago, we started this adventure onboard the Esperanza vessel, capturing and sharing the first ever underwater images of the Amazon Reef. We were clear about our mission: to show to the world the amazingness of the Amazon Reef before it was too late, fully aware that an oil spill could damage it irreversibly.
We knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, that we needed to be many, that we needed to be strong, that we needed to be rigorous, that we needed to be diverse and that we needed to be united. And we did it.
We’ve been many: more than 2 million. We’ve been strong, performing massive and brave demonstrations, including crashing a meeting at Total’s corporate headquarters. We’ve been rigorous, putting science at the centre of our demands, revealing the existence of possible new species and proving the Amazon Reef is much bigger than previously thought. We’ve been diverse, gathering in the same campaign people from around the globe, from scientists to local communities, from Malaysia to Paris, from actors and actresses to climbers and samba players. And we’ve stayed united.
It’s been fabulous to see how we’ve been able to work together, how we’ve been able to build a movement where all of us had a crucial role: from the cyber activists who signed the petition to show their opposition to Total’s plans, to the local communities from Amapá who stood up against the threat drilling would represent to their region.
The Amazon Reef Defenders have achieved this victory for the planet because we have been able to use our human potential and diversity to defend a natural treasure. Now we know that nothing is impossible.
And this is only the beginning. We are not going to stop until the Amazon Reef is protected for good, until we end the age of oil.
We are super proud of you, Amazon Reef Defenders. We’ve made history and now let’s share it with the world!
