Defend the defenders

Our planet’s vital defenses against climate change and biodiversity loss are being stripped away in real-time. We see it in the smoke-choked forests of the Amazon in Brazil, the bleaching reefs of Raja Ampat in Indonesia, the threatened shores of Chana in Thailand, and the fragile fjords of the Mar Patagónico in Chile. The life-support systems that provide the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the climate stability we need for our future are under siege.

This is not a distant threat: it is the defining emergency of our present moment.

Where greedy extractive industries see only profit, Indigenous Peoples and coastal communities see life and ancestry. We must stand with the families who are defending their roots and homes with resilience and care.

These communities have protected forests and oceans for millennia; their rights are the shield that protects life for us all. Standing with them to guarantee their sovereignty is the most powerful act of protection we can take for the planet and future generations.

We demand world leaders move beyond empty promises and immediately recognize the legal territories and rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Together we can build a way of life where nature and people thrive together.