Stand.earth signals support for Amazon Indigenous communities hosting climate forum for Biden administration

Virtual event elevated Indigenous demands outlined by the World Assembly for the Amazon

WASHINGTON, D.C. — North American-based environmental advocacy organization Stand.earth signals its support for Indigenous communities of the Amazon rainforest, who hosted a virtual forum on Thursday, April 15, to promote an Amazon conservation strategy for the Biden administration. The forum can be viewed on YouTube.

The event is based on proposals outlined in the Life Plan by the World Assembly for the Amazon and in the Action Plan for the First 100 Days by groups who are part of the Amazon Climate Platform.

The forum brought together Indigenous representatives from the Amazon alongside allies, policy leaders, artists, youth leaders, faith leaders, and elected leaders from the U.S. and Brazil to offer their recommendations to the Biden administration for a strategy to protect the Amazon rainforest. Issues include guaranteed access to reliable vaccines, stopping deforestation, sustainable economic transformation, and self-governance.

“This forum comes at a critical juncture for the Biden administration, as it participates in ongoing talkswith Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro over Amazon rainforest protection. The solutions outlined in this forum are critical for the Biden administration to consider, if the U.S. truly wants to be seen as a world leader in helping to protect the Amazon rainforest, said Alicia Guzman, Senior Amazon Campaign Adviser at Stand.earth. 

Over the past several months, environmental organizations Stand.earth and Amazon Watch have worked to draw attention to the ways that European banks have been financing the trade of controversial Amazon oil to the U.S. and are complicit in the impacts of the oil industry on the Amazon rainforest — including oil spills, harm to Indigenous peoples, and climate destruction — despite making climate and human rights commitments. Earlier this year, several banks including BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, and ING committed to exclude Ecuadorian Amazon oil from their trading activities.

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Media contact: Virginia Cleaveland, Communications Manager, media@stand.earth, +1 510 858 9902 (Pacific Time)

Interviews available in Spanish and English