The voices of Amazon women and a visionary declaration to protect indigenous lands

As we face the daunting reality of the climate crisis unraveling all around us, including the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which warns that we only have a dozen years remaining to radically change our current trajectory to prevent disastrous ecological and social harms, there is a shimmer of light and hope radiating out from the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon sparked by the Kichwa People of Sarayaku.

Sarayaku leaders launched their historic Kawsak Sacha or Living Forest Declaration in July this year during four days of public events, educational activities and ceremonies in the capital city Quito, Ecuador. The inauguration included a formal presentation to the Ecuadorian government and to international organizations and dignitaries.

“The Amazon Rainforest ecosystems are vital lungs of the Earth. Thus, the justice and well-being for the people of Sarayaku is inseparably tied to the fate of all people worldwide.”

Read the Nation of Change story by Osprey Orielle Lake - “The voices of Amazon women and a visionary declaration to protect indigenous lands.”

The Climate Could Hit a State Unseen in 50 Million Years

No, the headline is not a typo. Current carbon dioxide levels are unprecedented in human history and are on track to climb to even more ominous heights in just a few decades.

Weekly carbon dioxide levels at Mauna Loa
Observatory are already nearing last year's peak.

If carbon emissions continue on their current trajectory, new findings show that by mid-century, the atmosphere could reach a state unseen in 50 million years. Back then, temperatures were up to 18°F (10°C) warmer, ice was almost nowhere to be seen and oceans were dramatically higher than they are now.

The implications of the research, published on Tuesday in Nature Communications, are some of the starkest reminders yet that humanity faces a major choice to curtail carbon pollution or risk pushing the climate outside the bounds that have allowed civilization to thrive.

Read Brain Kahn’s ClimateCentral story - “The Climate Could Hit a State Unseen in 50 Million Years.”