quickly shay doron shape it see any has to be my name is ariel to ecuador on shane my native language my name means thunder woman. i'm so happy to be here and i want to recognize the special territory of the coast me walk- for allowing me to be here today and it's so good to be here pioneers thirtieth anniversary. as a board member of pioneers i remember when i sit on this stage three years ago as a keynote. and one of the things that helped ease my time up here was the introduction provided by

clayton thomas mueller a friend. and today i am so honored to have the privilege of introducing lay last salazar lopez a friend and a comrade in the movement to protect and uphold the rights of indigenous peoples. leila is the mother a proud chicano latino woman and passionate defender of mother earth the amazon indigenous rights and climate justice. since two thousand and fifteen she has served as the executive director of amazon watch leading the organization in its work to pretend protect and defend the bio cultural and climb integrity of the amazon rainforest by advancing indigenous peoples rights territories and solutions including solar for energy communications and transportation in the amazon. but for more than that she has worked to defend the world's

rainforests human rights and climate through many grassroots organizations and international advocacy campaigns at amazon watch rainforest action network global exchange and green corpse. she is currently a greenpeace voting member and a and a global fund for aids women adviser for latin america. i first met layla in the halls of the rainforest action network in two thousand and eight when we were both campaigners and i looks to her i immediately found camaraderie as another racialized women working within the environmental movement. i looks to her for guidance and courage to continue to move forward in places that often didn't accept us in those rooms and up those board tables and with our own thoughts. later left the rainforest action network in two thousand and nine where she moved on to the amazon watch just one floor away from ran and i continue to stay in touch with her. where i continue to look and see how she pushed the boundaries in the organization she moved through but she

pushed it advocated for the rights of communities. of the redistribution of power and privilege. as the executive director of rain forests are of amazon watch she's continue to show tremendous leadership and demonstrating what it means to show up for community and grabbing her work in what it means to be a true ally. i am in my own journey to become executive director of my own organization i looks to lay a lot for leadership and for mentorship. just this past month when we were together in new york city for the climate week i said to her late last year one of my mentors. i look to you as a strong woman of color leading an organization and showing what it means to have real demonstrated leadership of showing up for community and really putting your heart in your work. we have to ensure that we support women like leila salazar lopez like i told the salami like the

many women of the seller yahoo and though a set up separate people who are rising up and demonstrated what it means to be true leaders in the face of adversity. well the first traveled to the amazon in nineteen ninety five as a student intern and as you continue to move forward she met so many people that taught her so much about what it means to be in the region. and what it means to stand up to protect the rights of those communities today she will share that story and journey. with you join me in welcoming layla salad local. good morning everyone. thank you ariel. she already made me cry and for those of you who know me i will probably cry. i thank you bye nears thank you so much for holding the space for all of us. during this very difficult and challenging but inspiring time here on mother earth. i first want to

acknowledge the coastal me walk. and all the california native peoples whose land we are on. i want to acknowledge our ancestors all of our ancestors. my yaqui an aspect ancestors from what is now northern mexico sinaloa zacatecas and also from yucatan my great grandfather's from. i want to acknowledge and thank our family migrated from baja california. and then and then to southern california to search for a better life just like many. my grants are you doing today. and i want to give a special thanks to my family who's out there somewhere. who always supports me always loves me. even when it's really difficult especially over the

last few months. which have been very very intense. since we heard about the fires burning across the amazon. and i want to thank the amazon watch staff and family who have been working tirelessly. for twenty three years to defend the amazon. so the amazon rainforest is on fire. let that sink in for a moment. how many of you have heard about this. okay. how many of you wereere yesterday during bill mckibben sock. how many of you cried. or were terrified. i was crying and terrified for the rest of the day yesterday. and i hope

arm while you hear me speak i won't make you terrified arm maybe a little by- also inspire you. to join us and to join indigenous peoples in resistance. for existence and survival for all of us. so you probably have heard about the fires in brazil. and most of the fires have been in brazil. and they were raging across the amazon in brazil and in bolivia and across across the entire amazon and their devastating their catastrophic. and combined with the threats across the amazon oil and gas and agribusiness and deforestation and degradation

and mining and mega dams. arm this is what these threats and the fires combined with climate change. this is what. could be the amazon to a tipping point of ecological collapse. bye can we turn this around. that's the question what's the question that we're here to answer today. first the amazon. and our beautiful beautiful planet earth. this is south america and. this is the amazon basin. and the amazon basin is as large as the continental united states it's massive. it's the

world's largest tropical rainforest. it is a global treasure. it houses a third of plant and animal species on mother earth. it produces 20% of the earth earth oxygen. so we need the amazon to brief. we need the amazon for global biodiversity we need the amazon. for protecting our climate. the amazon you might have heard of the amazon is the largest tropical rainforest also has one of the largest rivers on the planet and above the river the amazon river or the flying rivers which are the atmospheric rivers which regulate our global weather system without the flying rivers our entire global weather system is destabilized. and the reason why. of the

flying rivers can be taken off course is because of increased the forestation caused by these fires and many other threats. this is one of the many images that you'll see if you travel to the rainforests. arm how many of you've actually been to the rain forest. a lot of you armed and for those of you who have been. once you've been just like once you know you can't go back that's what happened to me when i went to the amazon rainforest when i was twenty one years old. i went to learn about plants i wanted to study study ethnobotany. and my life took a different course once i met indigenous peoples who were a living library who are a living library when you walk with indigenous peoples in the rainforest. and they can name every single plan tell you every single property. for food

for medicine for housing for clothing for shelter. man you know. there is they have a minute millennial knowledge that needs to be protected. and in the amazon there are these. so i said there that the amazon houses- a third of the plant animal species on the planet this is one of my favorites the pygmy marmoset it's about this big it can you can hold in your hand and you just want to take it home it's the cutest thing ever but you can't take it home. and they're they're almost extinct. and so they are like many of the plants and animals on this planet. i'm under a lot of threat so we're working to protect them working to define them and the best way

that we can do that. is my standing with indigenous peoples. there are over four hundred distinct indigenous nations peoples throughout the amazon rainforest and they are the best protectors of the amazon they are the best protectors of bio diversity on our planet the u. n. you guys were probably heard the shot before the united nations of says that. 80% of the global biodiversity on this planet is on indigenous peoples lands so box why we're working to stand with indigenous peoples to protect biodiversity to protect the climate. and to protect life. and when we see these images of these fires. and this destruction taking place all over the amazon this is this is this is what it looks like this

is what industrial agribusiness does to the amazon and this is why the fires. have been intentionally set. let's make no mistake. the fires in the amazon are not wild fires. they're not a mistake they are intentional they are malicious. they are. set by government policies and economic policies and drivers. to do this to the re forest this is a map that we created. in late august right after the fire started just to map out where some of the fires were happening and also to show that yes a lot of the fires are happening in brazil but they're happening all over the amazon and were talking thousands of fighters. in brazil alone there's been over a hundred thousand fires just this year alone in brazil alone there's

been over three million hectares burnt in bolivia alone there's been over five million hectares burnt. just this year. just this year. and dot is forest that has been there for thousands and thousands of years and we're not gonna get that back anytime soon. what we have to do now is protected and restore it as quick as possible. a lot of people ask us you know what you know. who's responsible who's doing this and it is the government it is about both in our government. let's not make you know make light of it. the brazilian government housing policy house not only the rhetoric but the policies to destroy the amazon

to make way for economic development to make way for agribusiness to make way for soy and cattle. to make way for mining it is their policy to destroy the amazon for economic development. so it's not a mistake it's not. a wild fire it's intentional and malicious and destructive and- not only are they in arm. that intentionally setting fire to the forest there intentionally rolling back rights of indigenous peoples. the moment both in our garden office he rolled back the rights of indigenous peoples merge environmental and agribusiness ministries. to intentionally destroyed there the lands and the rights of indigenous peoples and so we've been standing strong with indigenous peoples a p. b. the indigenous movement of brazil to say no to

stand up for rights to stand up for lives to stand up for territories. and v. indigenous movement of brazil actually just on friday. embarked on a trip to europe a twenty city tour for six weeks to go to europe. to go to companies to go to banks to go to european governments to the e. u. parliament to say. don't trade with brazil. don't trade in high risk commodities with brazil. because that is what's destroying the forest if you care about the forest if you care about human rights if you care about indigenous rights if you care about the climate. then don't trade in high risk commodities. mmhm no government no corporation no- retailer and no bank should be doing this and that's why we actually

joined together with a p. b. to put out a report called complicity in destruction. r. highlight and expose these corporations big agribusiness traders like atm and bungie and cargill and retailers like costco and walmart and bakes. financial institutions like chase and sometime there and bnp part a party bus and asset managers. very very big banks mike blackrock and how many of you all have heard about black rock so thank you for those of you who know about blackrock's big problem the rest of you look up blackrock's big problem. and you'll know that they are the biggest. investor in climate destruction whether it be agribusiness for fossil fuel. and speaking of fossil fuel. these are the fossil fuel reserves in the amazon. you may

have heard about chevron in ecuador occidental petroleum into watcher tory or northern peruvian amazon. that's in the western amazon dot in the most bio diverse part of the amazon an area that we call the sacred headwaters region. it is the most bio diverse culturally diverse part of the amazon. and it's in the western amazon and these are the fossil fuel reserves across the amazon dot these companies and governments would like to get their hands on. there are many protected areas throughout the amazon indigenous peoples territories that are protected in the amazon in ecuador for example. indigenous peoples have rights to their ancestral territories but they don't have rights to the subsurface mineral minerals so t goverent could still go in and- drill. a concession off territories. mike this.

these are indigenous peoples territories overlapped with oil concessions and this is been the model. for decades. and as i mentioned i was just in ecuador last week with- some of my colleagues and standing with indigenous peoples- in meetings actually we were in meetings. to talk about the alternative. alternative solutions to oil development. and. it was very hard to be there last week because- we were in meetings but we're also standing with indigenous peoples as they were rising up. rising up against the continued policies that would cause this that would cause the destruction of indigenous peoples lands and the rainforest to cause massive oil spills like this this is what it looks like. this is just a very small picture of

what it is we're talking billions and billions and billions of gallons of oil and toxic waste waters that have been spilled into the ecuadorian peruvian amazon as a result of oil development. and for what for a few weeks worth of oil. this is why people like sarah yaqoob who are very close allies have said no. we're not we're not going to ever allow fossil fuel companies on our land we want to be free from oil development we want to keep fossil fuels in the ground. it's indigenous people it's not a jako it's women. women defenders of the amazon against extraction. it's indigenous movements that were working with to protect the amazon to restore the amazon to advance indigenous solutions. to advance and support climate justice. and we're doing this

together we're doing this as ngo allies were doing this as movements in the climate justice movement and indigenous rights movement and the women's movement we're doing this together. and this is what we have to do it this time the youth have called upon us. to stop talking and take action. how many of you were out in the climate the climate march prime strike. i was out there with my kids. in san francisco. our marching for climate justice and i have to say dot it restored my hope after the fires. it was pretty daunting and devastating to come to work. and just get up in the morning. but seeing that you. stand up for climate justice and demanding that we take action. really restored my hope being in ecuador last week seeing indigenous people stand

up to the imf and to their government who is imposing policies on them without their consent. gave me hope and re inspired me to really do everything possible. to stand up to forces like blackrock. four children. because like the sign says we have to act as if our house is on fire because it is it's the amazon it's the arctic it's the congo it's indonesia all of these ecosystems. have been on fire. and we have to put out the physical fires and we have to put out. the political fires and we have to come together like we did in this ceremony last week. we have to come together all of us we have to get out of our silos and we have to come together. for our future. for our collective future. so i want to ask you

all to please. come together unified that's what we're doing here by in years we come together we share ideas we inspire each other we challenge each other we cry together. and what i want to ask you all to do is to take action for the amazon my time is up but i want you to go to amazon watch .org. and take a pledge to protect the amazon and stand with indigenous peoples. and just if you remember anything of what i've said today i want you to remember that. the best way that we can protect the amazon is by standing with indigenous peoples and if we protect the amazon. and if we protect the amazon we will protect our climate. and we will not reach that tipping point and we will have hope for our future generations so where you stand with me. that stands. okay.■x■xy

k >> this is "focus on europe." i'm lara babalola, welcome. missiles are hitting civilian targets in ukraine once again, knocking out power and water supplies. the destruction of energy infrastrture has led to power cuts across the country. even in cities in ukraine's far west like lviv. residents have been left in the dark and in freezing temperatures. in the capital kyiv, the deep metro stations are offering shelter from the bombardments. >> in ukraine's north, fears of renewed russian attacks are