3rd June, 10:00-11:30 Mexico / 17:00-18:30 GMT

Event organized by Stop Ecocidio

Zoom webinar in Spanish with simultaneous translation to English

Global warming and the massive destruction of ecosystems is leading us into an environmental crisis unprecedented in human history, threatening our future as a human species as well as that of thousands of other species with which we share our planet.

To a large extent, this crisis is rooted in the mistaken belief that humanity can survive on its own and independently of nature. On the contrary, we are part of Mother Earth and are interrelated directly or indirectly with all living beings that inhabit our "Common Home", in the words of Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si.

This situation demands a series of immediate measures such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the use of alternative and clean energies, the implementation of ecological technologies, the generation of circular economies and a change in our production and consumption habits. It also requires the modification of the existing legal framework, both at national and international level, including the prohibition of and adequate sanction for the most serious acts of damage to the environment - when these are illegal or wanton - through the establishment of the crime of Ecocide.

In the context of World Environment Day, we would like to share the reflections of some of the most relevant actors who, from Latin America, are working to defend Nature and to make the changes that are necessary to live in harmony with it.

Speakers:

Verónica Sacta (Ecuador/México)

Stop Ecocide Americas Coordinator. Co-founder of Mother Earth-Nature Rights international movement and of the Latin American Sustainable Settlements Council. Ambassador of the Global Ecovillage Network. Mexico Peace Prize in 2021.

Julio Prieto (Ecuador)

Ecuadorian lawyer specializing in Environmental Law, Indigenous Rights and Nature Rights. Master in Environmental Management from Yale University. Author of the book Rights of Nature, Fundamentals and Judicial Enforceability and other publications. Lawyer for environmental organizations, indigenous and peasant communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon. United Nations Expert on Earth Jurisprudence for the Harmony with Nature Programme.

Wilma Esquivel Pat (Mexico)

Biologist and poet. Vice-president of the U Kúuchil K Ch'i'ibalo'on Community Center, member of the Utsil Kuxtal Network of Resistance for Life and Territory, and the Indigenous Futures network. Organizer of workshops on sexual and reproductive rights, identity, community and territory. She is also a member of the National Indigenous Congress.

Cristina Burelli (Venezuela/USA)

Executive Director and Co-founder at V5 Initiative. She studied Social Anthropology at Cambridge University, part of the Board of Cambridge in America and Orchestra of the Americas. President and Co-founder of the Global Leaders Program. Founder of SOSOrinoco.

Adadier Perdomo Urquina (Colombia)

Lawyer graduated from the Surcolombiana University. Litigator with extensive experience in civil, administrative, constitutional, police, mining and environmental law. Experience in conducting constitutional processes to defend environmental rights and promote the conservation of natural resources in the departments of Huila, Antioquia and Córdoba.

Lorena Donaire (Chile)

Teacher. Founder and national spokesperson of Mujeres MODATIMA and Mujeres en Resistencia Chile. She is part of the Gripp Lac Network. She was one of the drafters of the protocol of Hope, of Cejil and UN Women. Creator of the Network of defenders of Chile. Activist in the Water and Gender Roundtables.

Miguel Angel Asturias (Argentina)

Director of the Association of Environmental and Climate Criminal Law Researchers (AIDPAC). Professor at Belgrano University in Buenos Aires. Official of the National Criminal and Correctional Appeals Chamber of the Federal Capital. Author of a proposed law on the crime of ecocide for Argentina.

Henry Córdova Bran (Perú)

Journalist and Social Communicator. National Coordinator of the Citizen Movement against Climate Change (MOCICC) in Peru. Specialist in political advocacy on environmental and climate issues.

Jefe Ninawa Inu Pereira Nunes Huni Kui (Brasil)

Chief general of the Huni Kuí people in the Brazilian Amazon. President of FEPHAC (Huni Kuí Federation of the State of Acre), international ambassador of his people and member of the Alliance of Guardians of Mother Nature. Expert in Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights and International Cooperation from the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain.

Moderated by:

Rodrigo Lledó (Chile/España)

Stop Ecocide Director for Americas. Professor at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR). Vice-President of the Human Rights Without Borders Foundation and. Member of the "Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide" (2021).