Indigenous people lead the fight for climate justice in the United States and throughout Latin America.

They face multiple threats to their collective rights, ancestral l territories, livelihoods, and personal security, including:

• Impacts of climate change (Flooding, drought, food insecurity, forced displacement) 
• Industrial and extractive projects, including deforestation driven by industrial agriculture, fossil fuel extraction, and mining, threaten Indigenous territories and rights.
• Limited political representation
• Land usurpation and legal obstacles that make it harder for them to access the courts and obtain protections  

Call to Action

• Ensure and protect indigenous peoples’ collective land rights. 
• Ensure the right to previous, free, and informed consultation on any governmental initiative that includes or impacts indigenous peoples.
• Ensure Indigenous participation and adequate representation in public institutions, government, education, health, and justice.
• Acknowledge and learn from Indigenous peoples' relationship with nature to make strides for climate justice.

^‍Sources

_{As climate crisis alters their lands, Indigenous Peoples turn to the courts. (2023, August 8). https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/climate-crisis-alters-their-lands-indigenous-peoples-turn-courts}

_{Climate Change Adaptation and the Protection of Indigenous Peoples’ Land & Resources in Latin America. (2023, March 3). Harvard Environmental Law Review. https://journals.law.harvard.edu/elr/2023/03/03/climate-change-adaptation-and-the-protection-of-indigenous-peoples-land-resources-in-latin-america/}

_{Climate justice means having Indigenous peoples at the table | IDRC - International Development Research Centre. (2023, September 29). https://idrc-crdi.ca/en/research-in-action/climate-justice-means-having-indigenous-peoples-table}

_{Indigenous and tribal communities advocate for climate justice at Inter-American Court of Human Rights. (n.d.). EarthRights International. Retrieved July 31, 2024, from https://earthrights.org/blog/indigenous-and-tribal-communities-advocate-for-climate-justice-at-inter-american-court-of-human-rights/}

_{“The Indigenous Struggle for the Environment in Latin America” Report of the eleventh Policy Dialogues session. (n.d.). JHU-PPC Johns Hopkins University - Public Policy Center. Retrieved July 31, 2024, from https://www.upf.edu/web/jhu-ppc/news/-/asset_publisher/4qRxVOpWLup0/content/-we-have-to-create-in-this-world-a-global-society-that-promotes-social-justice-that-promotes-climate-justice-and-that-promotes-racial-justice.-because-without-any-one-of-the-three-there-s-not-going-to-be-justice-in-the-world.-report-of-the-eleventh-sessio/maximized}

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