The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, as one of the winners of the 2024 Champions of the Earth Award, the United Nations (UN)’s main environmental honor.
The minister was honored in the “political leadership” category, for defending indigenous rights and actions to preserve the environment in the country.
UNEP highlights that Guajajara is the first minister of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil and will become the country’s first indigenous minister in 2023.
In UNEP’s assessment, the demarcations of indigenous territories helped to prevent deforestation, illegal logging and drug trafficking.
To date, with the work of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples.
The last three approvals took place last Wednesday (4) in a meeting between the minister and President Lula and representatives of the indigenous peoples covered, at Palácio do Planalto.
“We are living in a period of many challenges, environmental, climatic, social, political, ethical and spiritual”, said the minister, when informed of the award.
“Part of these challenges is the result of hegemonic ways of human relationships with the environment and with all living beings. It is the result of the predatory exploitation of nature, unequal power relations in society, differences in access to rights and political participation, the concentration of income and wealth by a few, while inequality increases for many”, added Guajajara.
“Valuing the struggle and ancestral knowledge of indigenous peoples for keeping the forest standing is essential for us to be able to change this scenario.”
Four other people and a sustainable agriculture initiative were also honored by UNEP this year:
- Amy Bowers Cordalis, North American, defender of indigenous rights;
- Gabriel Paun, Romanian, forestry defender;
- Lu Qi, Chinese, scientist;
- Madhav Gadgil, Indian, ecologist;
- SEKEM, Egypt-based sustainable development initiative.
UNEP estimates that more than three quarters of the world’s population will be impacted by droughts by 2050, for example.
“Almost 40% of the world’s land is already degraded, desertification is increasing and devastating droughts are becoming more regular. The good news is that the solutions already exist today and, around the world, extraordinary individuals and organizations are demonstrating that it is possible to defend and heal our planet”, said UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, in a statement.
“The efforts of Champions of the Earth 2024 are a reminder that the fight to protect our land, our rivers and our oceans is a fight we can win. With the right policies, scientific advances, systems reforms, activism, as well as the vital leadership and wisdom of Indigenous Peoples, we can restore our ecosystems.”
