The science is clear that protection of the remaining intact Amazon forest is critical to maintaining global biodiversity, stable hydrological systems worldwide, and a  livable climate.  Across the Amazon, Indigenous peoples are fighting for their rights, and working to stop fossil fuel extraction in their home.  In addition, many national governments in the Amazon have expressed support for climate mitigation and protection of human rights and biodiversity.  Yet expansion of oil drilling in the Amazon continues and is having a devastating impact on Indigenous lives, livelihoods and  climate stability.  Road building for oil drilling is opening up new areas of the Amazon to fires and scientists warn that the Amazon is close to a ‘tipping point’. 

While there is clear interest in opening up more of the Amazon to oil extraction, like recent efforts in Peru to auction new oil blocks, there are many local and international initiatives aiming to stop exploration. The Presidents Summit that will soon happen in Belém, Brazil, the national referendum vote in Ecuador to safeguard Yasuní, the proposal to protect 80 percent of the Amazon by 2025 (80x25), and the idea of the Amazon as a fossil fuel non- proliferation zone are all part of the key discussions and progress towards protecting the Amazon.

This event seeks to identify solutions and pathways forward to a fossil fuel free Amazon that addresses human rights, ecological, economic and political barriers to stopping oil drilling in the Amazon rainforest.

This event is co-hosted by the Ford Foundation.

Eventbrite livestream link here.