82 views  Sep 12, 2024

 On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and

82 views  Sep 12, 2024

 On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions (Fourth Edition).” 

From rising cancer rates to escalating violence, the report details the numerous disproportionate health and safety risks and impacts women in all their diversity are experiencing due to fossil fuel extraction, which is also perpetuating Indigenous and human rights violations. The report highlights regional case studies from Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities in North America, as well as the corresponding financial institutions that are contributing to these egregious harms. The report outlines recommendations for the banks to move toward accountability and a just transition. 

During the online event, we heard from frontline women leaders, health experts, and advocates who are demanding accountability from financial institutions to take action for the health of our communities, ecosystems, and the climate. Speakers included: 

✴� Roishetta Sibley Ozane M.S., Founder of Vessel Project of Louisiana and Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator, Louisiana

✴� Rene Ann Goodrich (Bad River Ojibwe), Native Lives Matter Coalition and Wisconsin Department of Justice Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force Member, Wisconsin

✴� Sharon Lavigne, Founder of RISE St. James, and 2021 Goldman Prize Winner, Louisiana

✴� Patricia Garcia-Nelson (Oraricha Tribes of Mexico and the Chichimeca), Colorado Fossil Fuel Just Transition Advocate for Green Latinos, Northern Colorado

✴� Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Environmental Ambassador for the Ponca Nation, and Board Member and Project Coordinator for WECAN, Oklahoma

✴� Antonia Juhasz, Investigative Journalist, author, lecturer, Washington, DC

✴� Dr. Nneoma Nwachuku Ojiaku, MD, MPH Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Climate Health Now

✴� Osprey Orielle Lake, Report Co-author, and Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

Many thanks to the amazing speakers!

Global Voices and Women-Led Calls to Action in Response to COP27

Around the world, peoples’ movements are responding to the escalating climate crisis and rising to address the

Global Voices and Women-Led Calls to Action in Response to COP27

Around the world, peoples’ movements are responding to the escalating climate crisis and rising to address the urgency and needs of people and the planet. During this event, we heard from women and gender-diverse leaders on the ground at #COP27 to report out on negotiations, share highlights, report releases, calls to action, demands from women globally, struggles, and solutions.

Speakers included:
- Noelene Nabulivou | Co-founder/Director, DIVA for Equality, Fiji;
- Carmen Capriles, Founder of Reacción Climática, WECAN Coordinator for Latin America
- Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Indigenous Leader from Sarayaku, and Spokeswoman, Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva;
- Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Convenor and International Spokesperson for Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP);
- Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisholm Legacy Project;
- Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch;
- Geraldine Patrick Encina, Indigenous Relations Advisor, One Earth Member of Grand Council of the Eagle and the Condor, and member of Earth Timekeepers;
- Adriana Calderón, Youth Climate Activist, USA & Mexico; Advocate with Fridays For Future, Fridays For Future MAPA (Most Affected People and Areas) and Fridays For Future in Mexico (Viernes Por El Futuro Mexico);
- Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

Indigenous Women from the Amazon: Calls for Urgent Action - COP27 Press Conference

Indigenous organizations and communities, led by women, are mobilizing locally and globally to

Indigenous Women from the Amazon: Calls for Urgent Action - COP27 Press Conference

Indigenous organizations and communities, led by women, are mobilizing locally and globally to protect and defend their communities and territories from governments and corporations that continue to violate Indigenous and human rights, and push forward extractive projects that harm local ecosystems and put communities at risk.

During this press conference, Indigenous women from the Amazon Basin and Brazil brought forth calls to action for Indigenous rights and protection of forests, water, communities, and the global climate.

Speakers included:
--- Sônia Bone Guajajara (Guajajara), Indigenous Leader from Brazil, Federal Deputy of the National Congress of Brazil, Brazil
--- Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Spokeswoman for Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva (Amazon Women in Defense of the Jungle), Sarayaku, Ecuador
--- Helena Gualinga (Kichwa), Indigenous Youth Climate Leader, Sarayaku, Ecuador
--- Taily Terena (Terena), Indigenous Rights Activist, WECAN Coordinator in Brazil, Brazil

"The world has not done an analysis to decide whether oil is more valuable than what is lost by destroying the Amazon. We have so much. In order to debate on an economic level, we would have to

"The world has not done an analysis to decide whether oil is more valuable than what is lost by destroying the Amazon. We have so much. In order to debate on an economic level, we would have to conduct a thorough study to find out how much the Amazon could give to the world. What they want here is easy money to pay the external debt to China and they will destroy the Amazon under this pretext." -Patricia Gualinga, Kichwa Community of Sarayaku, Ecuador.
Oil Round in southeastern Ecuador offers national and transnational companies 
about 3 million hectors of tropical forest which is home to seven indigenous nacionalides. The signing of contracts with oil companies is privista for October this year. Published on Mar 9, 2013

Produced by Pacha Producciones, Quito, Ecuador, 2013

Jim Manion, Janeen Comenote, Allen Pinkham, Sr., A. Brian Wallace, and Patricia L. Whitefoot speak about their vision for hope.

12/3/09 — Ecotrust today recognized five of

Jim Manion, Janeen Comenote, Allen Pinkham, Sr., A. Brian Wallace, and Patricia L. Whitefoot speak about their vision for hope.

12/3/09 — Ecotrust today recognized five of the Wests most innovative indigenous leaders for their efforts to improve conditions in their communities. The recipients were selected by a panel of tribal leaders, and their efforts span the areas of youth advocacy, education, renewable energy, cultural restoration and scholarship.

The Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award has quietly become one of the preeminent programs honoring and supporting tribal, First Nation, and Alaska Native leaders in the West. Tribes and First Nations are more than an ethnic or minority demographic; they are nations and representative governments, major land owners, committed co-managers in natural resources, and they are major drivers of local and regional economies. Tribes, First Nations, and Alaska Natives hold long-range vision, sustainable societal values and a history of the land and marine and terrestrial ecosystems that provide a sense of place in the growing global economy.