International tribunal hears from Amazon peoples on climate change
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights opened a series of hearings today in Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, where indigenous leaders and civil society representatives are testifying about the effects of climate change on their lives.
![International tribunal hears from Amazon peoples on climate change](https://media-manager.noticiasaominuto.com/960/naom_623492ea57997.jpg)
© Getty Images
![Notícias ao Minuto](https://cdn.noticiasaominuto.com/img/equipa/pessoa/lusa.png)
Mundo Amazónia
The Amazon, which houses the largest rainforest on the planet, is "a region of unquestionable transcendence" for debating climate change, said the president of Costa Rica, Nancy Hernandez Lopez, at the opening of the session.
The goal of this public hearing is to establish a direct, diverse, and participatory dialogue to help the court gather elements for an eventual ruling on the obligations of states in the fight against the climate emergency, she added.
One of the personalities heard today was the indigenous leader Junior Anderson Guarani Kaiowa, from a reservation in Mato Grosso do Sul (central-western Brazil).
"In indigenous cosmology, rivers and trees help maintain balance in the face of global warming," he said.
"States have a responsibility to guarantee our rights and our safety," he insisted, saying he was threatened "by the agricultural expansion of monoculture soybeans or transgenic corn."
In January 2023, Chile and Colombia asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for an advisory opinion to "clarify the scope of the obligations" of each country "to respond to the climate emergency within the framework of international law."
This advisory opinion should be issued by the end of the year, a court source told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The first hearing took place in April, in Barbados, and the second took place last Friday, in Brasília.
The hearings continue at the Amazonas Theater, in Manaus, a 19th-century building with an emblematic pink façade, built during the golden age of rubber, with testimonies from members of indigenous communities, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations and university professors.
Brazil has suffered extreme weather events recently, including unprecedented floods that have killed nearly 170 people.
Read Also: Brazilian city of Porto Alegre still flooded recovers commercial flights (Portuguese version)
Descarregue a nossa App gratuita.
Oitavo ano consecutivo Escolha do Consumidor para Imprensa Online e eleito o produto do ano 2024.
* Estudo da e Netsonda, nov. e dez. 2023 produtodoano- pt.com