A Global Movement Led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
Transcript
There’s been a great movement globally, led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, with the support of a lot of global NGOs to force corporations to adopt policies of no deforestation, no exploitation, and no exploitation of peat forests. So a lot of global corporations actually have made the leap to be able to trace their supply chains and to open their supply chains to show what they’re doing. But these commitments are voluntary. They’re not mandatory in 2015.
In New York, a declaration was signed by governments and corporations called the New York Declaration on Forests, which said that all of the signatories would commit to ending deforestation in their supply chains by 2020. Well, guess what? That was a voluntary declaration. And by 2020, deforestation had actually increased. Tropical deforestation had increased by 43%. So we need no more evidence to see that multinational corporations and the governments that serve them are not willing and able to comply with their own voluntary initiatives
A global movement led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, with support from numerous NGOs, has driven corporations to adopt no deforestation, exploitation, or exploitation of peat forests policies. Many corporations have voluntarily embraced transparency, tracing their supply chains to showcase responsible practices. However, these commitments remain voluntary.
How to transform the system?
Those most affected by the climate crisis are also those with the least power to decide and act on it. Tackling climate justice demands a shift in power, not only to repair frontline communities, but also to make sure that those who negotiate, sign and approve are also those most knowledgeable of what needs to be done to stop the crisis.
