80×25: Protecting the Amazon

The Amazon rainforest, the lungs of the planet and the source of 20% of all freshwater on Earth, is at risk of flipping from a carbon sink to a carbon emitter. Due to extractive activities like oil and gas exploitation, development of road infrastructure, and agricultural activity, the Amazon could turn into a drier ecosystem, like a savanna.¹ But we still have time to avert this tipping point before we witness the dieback of this mecca of biodiversity.

That’s why Stand.earth is joining Amazonian Indigenous leaders, global environmental and human rights organizations, and the scientific community to launch “80×25 Amazonia for Life” – a campaign that we helped catalyze.

The 80×25 initiative is calling for the permanent protection of 80% of the Amazon by 2025 as an urgent measure to avert its imminent tipping point and a planetary crisis.

Following the leadership of Indigenous leaders of the nine Amazon countries and the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA), we’re launching the initiative on the global stage at this year’s IUCN World Conservation Congress on September 5th. We’ll be building on the momentum for an emergency motion that COICA just submitted in Marseille.

And if you want to get in on all the festivities and hear from Indigenous leaders and scientists on the latest science, join us on September 7th for an online webcast to explore some of the latest research on the Amazon presented by Amazon Geo-Referenced Socio-Environmental Information Network (RAISG) and Stand.

Here’s the info:

Tuesday, September 7, 2021, 6am PT / 9am ET
Zoom (register here)
Hosted by Stand.earth and RAISG

If you’re unable to join the webinar, catch the live stream on our Facebook page.

So what does this mean for our Amazon campaign? Since we launched our report on European banks’ trade financing crude oil from the Western Amazon, we’ve been in deep engagements with Indigenous leaders and partner organizations to explore what expanded protection for the full biome means for the communities living there.

Together, we’ve identified a huge gap in global policies that protect the Amazon from banks; oil, gas, and agriculture industries; and governments. By advancing the 80×25 initiative, we are expanding our scope of work and partners. Stand is playing a key convening role in coordinating the coalition as well as supporting Indigenous leaders in growing the movement for this resistance.

This is a big undertaking, and we know that expanding the scale of the work, transforming banks, and building an international movement is no easy feat. But together, we know we can successfully advance policy reforms and market shifts that will benefit the whole Amazon biome.

¹Amazon Under Pressure: RAISG report.