Media Advisory
December 10, 2015
Grassroots Groups Say Climate Policies Violate Human Rights
& the Rights of Indigenous People
(Paris, FRANCE) Grassroots leaders from climate-impacted communities in the US rallied at the Paris Peace Wall to denounce the role of the US delegation for a legacy of environmental racism and in undermining the possibility for genuine climate justice coming out of Paris COP21 accord. Over 350 people participated in an action in front of the Peace Wall in Paris, a venue chosen to symbolically challenge the grave and violent implications of the current COP21 Agreement. Massive banners, signs, fierce chanting, singing, and street theatre marked the It Takes Roots delegation-led action for Human Rights Day.
“Here in Paris, as with every COP before now, we see the role of the US in holding back any efforts at real mandatory emissions cuts, and accepting true historic and current responsibility as a leading greenhouse gas emitter. The US has been leading other member states in a strategy of pollution trading that allows big oil to continue to pollute our communities and also threatens the livelihoods of indigenous communities from the Global North to the Global South. The decisions coming out of COP21 will lead to massive violations of human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples,” read Edgar Franx, from the It Takes Roots statement to President Obama on Human Rights Day.
“The prosperity of fossil-fueled societies has been built on the backs of historically marginalized communities: Indigenous Peoples, coal miners, fisherfolk, working class communities across the world — all of whom have paid the price of our “cheap fuels” and will suffer the consequences of global climate chaos disproportionately. Solutions that protect the welfare and rights of these communities will prove more durable, more equitable, and safer – for all of us. Indeed, on December 10 Human Rights day, there can be no better demand of COP21 – to be accountable to all people,” noted Dallas Goldtooth, with the Indigenous Environmental Network, and an It Takes Roots delegate.
Representatives from Indigenous, Black, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander organizations have united under the banner, It Takes Roots to Weather the Storm, representing communities living alongside fracking wells, coal power plants, and oil refineries and already facing the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
Today’s peace action called out the US and other countries of the Global North whose invasive foreign policies have played a large role in the current devastating and vicious refugee crises, conflicts, and resource wars due to land grabs and displacement triggered by neoliberal globalization.
Check out the list of media spokespeople from the It Takes Roots delegation:
Check out updates about our events/actions the delegation participated/co-organized:
Visit Our Flickr Photostream (please credit photos to: It Takes Roots)
Watch a quick video highlight of today’s action by Indigenous Environmental Network
To schedule interviews with our media spokespeople, and to get video clips from today’s action contact:
Dallas Goldtooth: [email protected] ; Ph:+1 708-515-6158
Preeti Shekar: [email protected] Ph: +33 751 401 911