“In the Face of the Climate Emergency, a Struggle for Life”

Read here in portuguese and spanish.

The Urgency of the Climate Crisis

We are at a historical turning point. The severe climate crisis we are facing is not an accident or a natural disaster, but the direct consequence of a predatory capitalist system that prioritizes profit and war over life. As a network of social movements and organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean, coordinated through the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice (DCJ) and the Latin American and Caribbean Platform for Climate Justice (PLACJC), we raise our voices to denounce the false solutions to climate change and demand real and profound change, led by the people from their territories.

The Driver of the Crisis: The Fossil Fuel Industry and its False Solutions

The root of the climate and social devastation has names and faces: the oil, gas, and coal industry. Networks like Oilwatch, for the past 30 years, and more recently the Global Gas and Oil Network (GGON), have tirelessly documented the destructive impacts of this industry at the global and local levels on communities and nature.

Its business model is incompatible with life and with the objectives of stopping and reversing global warming.

Meanwhile, financial mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have proven to be inefficient and ineffective in addressing the climate emergency and are becoming instruments of greenwashing, which will continue to deepen a predatory and unsustainable model if they do not channel their resources towards real transformation.

On the contrary, we see how in formal negotiation spaces and in national policies, false solutions continue to be promoted, such as carbon markets and offsets, debt-for-climate and nature swaps, geoengineering, and many others, which are imposed unfairly, without consultation, without participation or transparency, and only worsen the situation globally and in the territories, especially in the most vulnerable and already highly indebted countries and regions. 

Disputed Territories: The Epicenter of the Conflict

The climate crisis is manifesting itself brutally in our territories. The fires that devastate the Amazon and other vast areas of Latin America and the world, destroying human and animal life, forests, grasslands, and vital resources, are a clear example. These fires are not accidents, but the direct result of the combination of climate conditions and the interests of agribusiness, industrial livestock farming, and monoculture forestry, which promote policies of burning, land grabbing, and subsequent sale at low prices. These practices leave only crumbs for the communities in the devastated territories, while destroying the common resources on which our lives and our future depend.

The climate impacts caused by major greenhouse gas emitters are numerous, intense, and diverse: drought, coastal erosion, rising sea levels, pests, crop destruction, health problems, loss of lives and cultural identity, changes in rainfall patterns, salinization, and extreme weather events threaten our communities. Our livelihoods and ecosystems are being destroyed, and we suffer damage and losses due to an economy that does not protect the environment or the climate.

This situation, exacerbated by deforestation and land use for agribusiness or tree plantations, exerts unsustainable pressure on ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. These are territories sacrificed for the sake of capital.

This environmental degradation intensifies territorial struggles. Conflicts over access to water, land, and forests are escalating, exacerbating racism and social, economic, and ecological injustices. These are not simply disputes over resources: they are struggles for survival and dignity.

In this context, we are now facing COP30, the climate change conference, in Belém, Pará, Brazil. This summit has generated high expectations, both because it is the first in Latin America in over 10 years and because it is being held in a country with a progressive government. A large number of social movements are expected to attend.

Our Demands

In light of this situation, our response must be firm and well-articulated. We reaffirm the path proposed for decades, based on justice, human rights, the rights of nature, and participatory democracy:

1. Stop the fossil fuel expansion: We unconditionally support the efforts of communities and organizations to halt all new extraction of coal, oil, and gas, as well as the construction of new associated infrastructure. It is imperative to cut off public and private funding that fuels this destructive industry.
2. We support the struggle of the people of Ecuador, who overwhelmingly voted in 2023 to leave the oil in the ground in the Yasuní-ITT region, as a possible path towards post-petroleum societies. Similarly, we support Costa Rica, which established an indefinite oil moratorium 20 years ago and which now risks having it reversed.
3. We support the growing movement for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, advocating for a planned phase-out of coal, oil, and gas through multilateralism, emphasizing that international cooperation is no longer optional, but a legal obligation.
4. In the regional context, it is urgent that we raise our voices against the surge in oil exploitation in Latin America and the Caribbean, with Brazil, Guyana, and Argentina leading the way. At the local level, in the context of COP30, we express our unconditional solidarity and commitment to the communities that oppose and resist new oil projects in the Amazon and to the fishermen in Brazil affected by offshore activities.
5. We call for the creation of regional alliances to stop the expansion of the fossil fuel frontier and to defend our seas, rivers, territories, and communities. We advocate for a truly just transition, with ecological, climate, and territorial justice, that puts life first, not profit.
6. Therefore, we demand public climate finance, originating from the main polluters responsible for the climate crisis, that does not create debt and that does not promote or allow the implementation of projects that perpetuate extractivism; Instead, it should be allocated, through direct and streamlined access, to just transition strategies, designed and managed with broad participation from the communities themselves, with a central role for women, youth, and children.
7. We reject the proposal for the Tropical Forest Fund Forever (TFFF), which we consider a false solution, a major deception of the peoples of the Global South, and a way for the financial system to enrich itself by illegitimately exploiting tropical forests, viewing nature and its ecological functions as commodities, objects of investment, and targets for financial speculation.
8. Strengthening environmental democracy: In a context of deep distrust in institutions and increasing violence, we call on the governments of the region to ratify and implement without delay the Escazú Agreement, as a fundamental tool to guarantee access to information, public participation, environmental justice, and protection for environmental human rights defenders. We also demand respect for full democratic processes and compliance with the popular mandate, as in the case of Ecuador and the Yasuní.
9. Coordination for action: The magnitude of the challenge requires unprecedented coordination between government entities, civil society organizations, and, above all, local communities and Indigenous peoples, who are the true guardians of their territories.
10. Repairing damages and losses: Our communities and ecosystems have the right not to be harmed by climate change. States are responsible for providing mechanisms and measures to repair the damages and losses that are destroying our livelihoods and nature.
11. We call upon governments and political and institutional actors who truly want to advance social, ecological, and climate justice, and effectively address the root causes of these multiple crises and the threats and policies of the far right, to listen to the social movements, organizations, and mobilized communities and their demands, to put an end to oil and mining extraction and the commodification of common goods, and to refrain from further deepening the model that has caused these environmental crises.  
12. We urgently need a regional policy and genuine political will to stop the wildfires that are devastating our biodiversity, the Amazon, and our communities.

We invite the organizations participating in the Peoples’ Summit leading up to COP30, and all allied organizations in Latin America and around the world, to join forces to promote real alternatives, forge a truly just transition, and defend our territories as spaces of life and sovereignty for current and future generations.