Climate Justice Experts and Spokespeople from Climate-Impacted Communities Available for Interviews at COP16
***
Our list is updated daily
Spanish and English translation available for all interviews
Global Justice Ecology Project’s media team in Cancún at the UN Climate Convention is working closely with the Indigenous Environmental Network, Global Forest Coalition; Climate Justice Now!; ETC Group; Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA); Grassroots Global Justice Alliance; Grassroots Solutions for Climate Justice North America; Global Exchange; and Via Campesina.
These and other allied groups draw attention to the root causes of the climate crisis and present ecologically appropriate climate solutions based in equity, human rights and community action.
Global Justice Ecology Project will be sending press releases from the above organizations throughout the COP16.
Expertise Include: REDD; Forests; Plantations & Forest Dependent Peoples’ Rights; Indigenous Issues; Climate Finance; World Bank; Climate Technology; Migrant Issues; Labor Organizing; Urban Issues; Mitigation and Adaptation; Resource Extraction; Energy; Women’s and Gender Issues; Youth Issues; Anti-Incineration; Recycling; Wastepicking
To Schedule Interviews Contact:
Jeff Conant **@gj******.local +52.998.165.7349 [English and Spanish]
Hallie Boas ha****@gj******.local +52.998.165.7332 [English]
Orin Langelle or***@gj******.local +1.52.998.168.2997 [English]
EXPERTS LISTED BY TOPIC AREA
REDD / Forests / Plantations & Forest Dependent Peoples’ Rights
Ana Filippini – Uruguay has been speaking against monoculture tree plantations for over a decade. She has researched and documented plantations in Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Africa Swaziland and South Africa. Ana has Worked with the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) since 1995, and helped establish the International Secretariat in Montevideo.
Expertise: Monoculture Tree Plantations
Affiliations: World Rainforest Movement, Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations
Languages: English, Spanish, and some Portuguese
Camila Moreno – Brazil is a lawyer; a researcher at Terra de Direitos (a Brazilian NGO working on land rights); and a member of the Political Ecology working group of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales).
Expertise: Agrofuels, Peasant Movements, Agribusiness in Brazil, Biotechnology and GMOs; Deforestation and Territorial Conflicts in the Amazon; Emerging Environmental Movements
Affiliations: Terra de Direitos; Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales, Friends of the Earth Brazil
Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, English
Tom Goldtooth – Dińe, USA is the Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network and a longtime global leader in the environmental justice movement. Tom is one of the founders of the Durban Group for Climate Justice; co-founder of Climate Justice NOW!; co-founder of the U.S. based Environmental Justice Climate Change initiative; and a member of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change — the indigenous caucus within the UNFCCC. Tom is a policy advisor on environmental protection, mitigation, and adaptation. Tom co-authored the REDD Booklet on the risks of REDD within indigenous territories.
Expertise: REDD; US and International Climate Policy; Mitigation and Adaptation; Kyoto Protocol; False Energy Solutions Including: Fossil Fuels, Biochar, and Bioenergy; Carbon Markets and Offsets; Technology; Sustainable Technology; Water Issues, Indigenous Issues.
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network
Languages: English
Anne Petermann – USA is the Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project, and the Coordinator of the STOP GE Trees Campaign. She is also the North American Focal Point for the Global Forest Coalition. Anne co-founded the Durban Group for Climate Justice in 2004 and Climate Justice Now! at the COP13 in 2007. Anne speaks on “false solutions” to climate change, with specific focus on GE trees and second-generation agrofuels.
Expertise: GE trees, REDD, Timber Plantations, Wood-based bioenergy, Agrofuels
Affiliations: Global Justice Ecology Project; Global Forest Coalition; Climate Justice Now!
Languages: English
Simone Lovera – Paraguay; Netherlands is the co-founder and managing coordinator of the Global Forest Coalition. With a degree in international environmental law, she was the coordinator of the legal program of the Netherlands Committee for IUCN; she worked at Sobrevivencia in Paraguay; and she was the coordinator of the Friends of the Earth International Forest Program, Biodiversity Project, and International Campaigns.
Expertise: Carbon offsets, International forest policy, Biodiversity conservation, Indigenous rights,
International environmental law, Women and biodiversity, Payments for environmental services,
Market-based conservation mechanisms, Agrofuels.
Affiliations: Global Forest Coalition; Sobrevivencia
Languages: English, Dutch, Spanish, German and Portuguese
Rachel Smolker, PHD – U.S. is a researcher for BiofuelWatch and one of the foremost experts on the dangers of biomass electricity production and biochar.
Expertise: Wood-based bioenergy, Agrofuels, biochar
Affiliations: BiofuelWatch
Languages: English
Indigenous Issues
Francios Paulette – Dene, Canada is Dene Suline and a member of the Smith’s Landing Treaty 8 First Nation. As Chief Negotiator for the Smith’s Landing First Nation, he worked diligently to conclude a Treaty Settlement Agreement that protected the Slave River from hydroelectric development. He has chaired and presented at numerous Water Conferences in Northern Canada; the 8th World Wilderness Congress in Anchorage, Alaska; and at the 9th Congress in Merida, Mexico. He has been a collaborator on several documentary films on the Tar Sands.
Expertise: Indigenous Issues; Hydroelectric; Tar Sands
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network
Languages: English
Jasmine Thomas – Carrier, Canada is a member of the frog clan from Saik’uz, which is part of the Dakelh (Carrier) Nation in British Columbia, Canada. She has a background in environmental planning and traditional medicine. Jasmine participated in the “World People’s Climate Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth” and the National First Nations Women’s Tar Sands Speaking Tour. She is an outspoken opponent of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project that plans to cross through 52 First Nations un-ceded traditional territories in British Columbia and Alberta.
Expertise: Environmental planning; traditional indigenous medicine; Canadian Tar Sands
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network
Languages: English
Casey Camp-Horinek – Ponca, Canada is a long time Native Rights Activist, Environmentalist, actress, and a member of the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma. Casey has been at the forefront of grassroots community efforts to educate and empower both native and non-native community members about environmental and civil rights issues, and she established the Coyote Creek Center for Environmental Justice in 2004. Casey is also the traditional Drumkeeper for the Ponca Pa-tha-ta Woman’s Scalp Dance Society and an award-winning actress.
Expertise: Indigenous Issues
Affiliations: Coyote Creek Center for Environmental Justice; Indigenous Environmental Network
Languages: English
Kandi Mossett – Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, USA is Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara from North Dakota. Kandi is the Tribal Campus Climate Challenge Organizer (TCCC) for Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN). A graduate of the University of North Dakota’s Earth Systems Science and Policy Program, Kandi has organized in 30 tribal colleges to support initiatives that connect students to environmental justice and climate justice issues in line with Indigenous traditional knowledge and belief systems.
Expertise: Indigenous Issues; Youth Issues;
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network
Languages: English
Alberto Saldamando – USA is a lawyer working with the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC). Alberto is an expert on indigenous and human rights and participated in the drafting of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The IITC disseminates information on opportunities for involvement for grassroots Indigenous communities in UN processes, and works to build awareness about Indigenous struggles among non-Indigenous Peoples and organizations
Expertise: UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Indigenous Issues; Human Rights
Affiliations: International Indian Treaty Council
Languages: English
Ben Powless – Mohawk, Canada is Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario and is on the staff of Indigenous Environmental Network. He is studying Human Rights, Indigenous and Environmental Studies, focused on climate change and resource extraction in Indigenous territories. He has worked in Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua on human rights and development issues. He is a founder of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition and is on the National Council for the Canadian Environmental Network.
Expertise: Indigenous Issues; Human Rights
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network; Canadian Youth Climate Coalition; Canadian
Environmental Network
Languages: English, Spanish
Heather Milton-Lightening – Pasqua First Nation, Canada is the Alberta, Canada based tar sands organizer for Indigenous Environmental Network. Heather is Cree, Nakoda, Blackfoot, and Ojibwe and is from the Pasqua First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. She has been organizing with Indigenous youth since 1994 through the Grand Council (Student Council) of Children of Earth High School. She is a member of Native Youth Movement; on the board of the Ruckus Society, and on the advisory council of the Indigenous Peoples Power Project.
Expertise: Tar Sands; Indigenous Issues; Youth Issues
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network; Native Youth Movement; Ruckus Society;
Indigenous Peoples Power Project
Languages: English
Dallas Goldtooth – Dińe, USA is an Indigenous culture and language teacher and community health organizer within the Dakota Indian communities of Minnesota. He works for Dakota Wiċohan, a Dakota language immersion non-profit, and he is an Indigenous Environmental Network youth delegate.
Expertise: Indigenous Issues; Community Health; Youth Issues;
Affiliations: Dakota Wiċoḣan; Indigenous Environmental Network
Languages: English
Climate Finance/World Bank
Dr. Gerardo Gambirazzi – USA is a post-doctoral researcher looking at ecosystem services with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He is also works on climate finance with the Climate Justice Research Project at Dartmouth College.
Expertise: Climate finance, Ecosystem Services
Affiliations: Dartmouth College (US), EPA
Languages: Spanish, English
Nicola Bullard – France is a Senior Associate with Focus on the Global South, an NGO based in Bangkok. She works on research, analysis and capacity building on critical issues related to climate justice. She has worked extensively on issues related to international trade and development, global governance issues, women’s issues, human rights and labor. She is a founding member of Climate Justice Now!
Expertise: Trade and Finance, Global Governance and the UN
Affiliations: Focus on the Global South; Climate Justice Now!
Languages: English, French
Dr. Michael K. Dorsey – USA is an assistant professor in Dartmouth College’s Environmental Studies Program and the Director of the College’s Climate Justice Research Project. He is a co-founding board member of Islands First—a multilateral negotiating capacity building organization for small island developing states facing disproportionate threats from climate change. Since 2008, Dr. Dorsey has been an Affiliated Researcher on the Sustainability and Climate Research Team at Erasmus University’s Research Institute of Management inside the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM- ERIM, The Netherlands).
Expertise: Multilateral Environment Policy, International Finance, Biodiversity; Climate Refugees.
Affiliations: Dartmouth College; Sustainability and Climate Research Team at Erasmus; University’s Research Institute of Management inside the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM-ERIM)
Languages: English, Spanish
Lidy Nacpil – Philippines is the Regional Coordinator of Jubilee South Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS APMMD). She is Vice President of the Freedom from Debt Coalition of the Philippines, and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Development Group for Alternative Policies. Lidy is one of the leading voices on anti-debt and economic justice.
Expertise: Anti-Debt and Economic Justice
Affiliations: Jubilee South; Freedom From Debt Coalition; Development Group for Alternative Policies;
50 Years is Enough Network
Languages: English, Tagalog
Janet Redman – USA is the co-Director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies, where she provides analysis of the international financial institutions’ energy investment and carbon finance activities. Her recent studies on the World Bank’s climate activities include World Bank: Climate Profiteer, and Dirty is the New Clean: A critique of the World Bank’s strategic framework for development and climate change. Janet is a founding participant of the global Climate Justice Now! network.
Expertise: Global Climate Fund; Energy; World Bank; Financial Transaction Tax; US Climate Policy;
Affiliations: Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, Institute for Policy Studies; Climate Justice Now!
Languages: English
Dr. Jerome Whitington – USA is an anthropologist researching carbon finance with the Climate Justice Research Project at Dartmouth College, U.S.
Expertise: Carbon Finance, Carbon Accounting, Greenhouse Gas Management
Affiliations: Dartmouth College
Languages: English
Climate Technology
Silvia Ribeiro – Mexico is the Latin America Director for the ETC Group, an international civil society organization that monitors the environmental and social impacts of new technologies, including biotechnology, geoengineering and nanotechnology. ETC Group was key in providing analysis and information that led the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to declare a moratorium on climate manipulation technologies (geoengineering). In Cancun, ETC Group is focusing on geoengineering, synthetic biology and other climate-related technologies, as well as aspects related to food sovereignty (agriculture, patents, climate ready genes, biomass appropriation).
Expertise: Biochar; Geoengineering, Nanotechnology
Affiliations: ETC Group
Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese
Veronica Villa – Mexico is an ethnologist and researcher at ETC group, an international civil society organization that monitors the environmental and social impacts of new technologies, including biotechnology, geoengineering and nanotechnology. ETC Group was key in providing analysis and information that led the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to declare a moratorium on climate manipulation technologies (geoengineering). In Cancun, ETC Group is focusing on geoengineering, synthetic biology and other climate-related technologies, as well as aspects related to food sovereignty.
Expertise: Social and Environmental Impacts of Biotechnology
Affiliations: ETC Group
Languages: English, Spanish
Pacific Island Nations
Sandy Gauntlett – Aotearoa / New Zealand (Maori Indigenous descent) is of Maori descent and has been speaking on forest related issues for over a decade. Sandy is the Chairman of the Pacific Indigenous Peoples Environmental Coalition (PIPEC), Aotearoa/New Zealand; the Oceania regional focal point for the Global Forest Coalition; served on the Advisory Board for article 8j report of the CBD; and was a board member of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Expertise: Plantations and Agrofuels; Pacific Climate Impacts; Indigenous Peoples Rights; Biodiversity;
Climate Refugees.
Affiliations: PIPEC; Global Forest Coalition; Te Wananga O Aotearoa; Friends of the Earth NZ;
Languages: English, Te Reo Maori
Fiu Mataese Elisara-La’ulu – Samoa is the Executive Director of Ole Siosiomaga Society Incorporated. Fiu worked for the UNDP from 1993-2001 as the Assistant Resident Representative responsible for the Global Environment Facility in Samoa. He was closely involved with the South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) in the implementation of environment programs in Pacific Island nations. Fiu advocates for the rights of Indigenous Peoples under the UNFCCC and CBD.
Expertise: Indigenous Rights; South Pacific / Small Island Nations and Climate Change; Climate Policy; REDD
Affiliations: Ole Siosiomaga Society Incorporated
Languages: English, Samoan, Polynesian Languages
Hubertus Samangun – Indonesia is theSpokes Person/Public Relation Officer of ICTI – Ikatan Cendekiawan Tanimbar Indonesia; Regional Level: Regional Coordinator of the Nusantara/Bahasa Region (Indonesia-Malaysia, the Philippines) of the International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests; Indigenous Peoples Major Group’s Focal Point to the United Nations Forum on Forest (UNFF ); Indigenous Peoples Focal Point to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changes (UNFCCC )
Expertise: Indigenous rights, Biodiversity and forest policy, Agrofuels, REDD.
Affiliations: ICTI – Ikatan Cendekiawan Tanimbar Indonesia, International Alliance of Indigenous and
Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests.
Languages: Bahasa Indonesia and English
Resource Extraction / Energy
Clayton Thomas-Muller – Cree, Canada is a member of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan) in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Clayton serves on the board of the Collective Heritage Institute (CHI), which hosts the annual Bioneers Conference, and on the board of the Global Justice Ecology Project. Recognized by Utne Magazine as one of the top 30 under 30 activists in the United States and as a Climate Hero2009 by Yes Magazine, Clayton is the Tar Sands campaign organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Expertise: Indigenous Issues; Resource Extraction; Tar Sands; REDD;
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network; Collective Heritage Institute; Global Justice Ecology Project
Languages: English
Adam Thomas – Dakelh, Canada is a Dakelh of the Grouse clan from Saik’uz First Nations in Northern British Columbia, Canada. He has served as the First Nations representative for the Northern Undergraduate Student Society and as director and Tribal Organizer of the campus climate network goBEYOND. He works with the Sea to Sands Conservation Alliance and with the Indigenous Environmental Network on their Tar Sands initiative.
Expertise: Indigenous Issues; Campus Organizing; Tar Sands
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network; goBeyond; Sea to Sands Conservation Alliance
Languages: English
Jihan Gearon – Diné, USA is the lead Energy and Climate Organizer for Indigenous Environmental Network. Jihan is Diné (Navajo) and African American. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Earth Systems from Stanford University with a focus in Energy Science and Technology. Jihan works to build the capacity of communities impacted by energy development and climate change. Jihan is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative and the Coordinating Committee of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance.
Expertise: Resource Extraction; Renewable Energy; Indigenous Issues;
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network; Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative;
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Languages: English
Nikke Alex – Diné, USA is Diné (Navajo) originally from Dilcon, Arizona (Navajo Nation). She is the Executive Director of Black Mesa Water Coalition, an environmental justice organization based in Flagstaff, AZ. Nikke has carried out independent research about the impact of both uranium and coal mining on the Navajo people. Nikke has worked at the US Department of Justice in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program and the US Environmental Protection Agency with the Tribal Science Council in Washington, DC.
Expertise: Resource Extraction; Environmental Health Policy; Soil & Water Contamination; Indigenous Issues
Affiliations: Black Mesa Water Coalition; Tribal Science Council; Indigenous Environmental Network
Languages: English
Melina Laboucan-Massimo – Cree, Canada is Lubicon Cree from Northern Alberta. She is a Tar Sands Climate and Energy Campaigner in Alberta for Greenpeace Canada. Melina has produced documentaries focused on the Tar Sands, inherent treaty rights, water issues and cultural appropriation. She has worked in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada on Indigenous rights, resource extraction and international diplomacy.
Expertise: Tar Sands; Resource Extraction; Water Issues; Indigenous Issues
Affiliations: Greenpeace International; Indigenous Environmental Network;
Languages: English, Spanish
Twa-le Abrahamson – Spokane & Dine’ is the Youth and Media Coordinator for SHAWL (Sovereignty, Health, Air, Water, Land) Society. SHAWL provides education on uranium mining contamination and cleanup efforts. Twa-le has a degree in environmental studies; has been organizing on social and environmental justice issues for ten years and is the producer of “InnerTribal Beat.”
Expertise: Nuclear Impacted Communities in the US, Indigenous Issues, Soil and Water Contamination, Community Health
Affiliations: SHAWL (Sovereignty, Health, Air, Water, Land) Society, Indigenous Environmental Network, Building Alliances for Safe Environments
Languages: English
Anti-Incineration / Recycling / Wastepicking
Marlene Chacón Cubillo – Costa Rica is a recycler and women’s rights activist who coordinates a resource recovery program in Escazú. She is in Cancún to fight for improved living conditions for wastepickers and recyclers, to call for a direct Global Climate Fund for organized civil society, and to oppose false climate projects that greenwash dirty industry.
Expertise: Grassroots Recycling Solutions, Women’s rights and Climate Justice
Affiliations: Escazú Recicla of ASOFAMISAE and the Global Alliance of Wastepickers and Allies
Languages: Spanish
Eduardo Pérez Ponce de León – Uruguay is a recycler who worked for almost 30 years in materials selection, and is a member of the National Union of Municipal Solid Waste Separators (UCRUS), as well as with the national REDCICLAR association, and the local Juan Cacharpa Cooperative. He is in Cancún speaking on the importance recycling cooperatives.
Expertise: Grassroots Recycling Solutions, Cooperative Development
Affiliations: UCRUS, REDCICLAR, Juan Cacharpa Cooperative, Latin American Recyclers Network
Languages: Spanish
Simon Mbata – South Africa is a founding member of the South African Wastepickers Association. He is also the coordinator of the Free State Province, and has helped to create a workers’ cooperative in Sasolburg. He is in Cancun calling for in source separation of discards for recycling rather than dumps and incinerators.
Expertise: Grassroots Recycling Solutions, Worker Organizing
Affiliations: South Africa Wastepickers Association, Global Alliance of Wastepickers and Allies
Languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, Tswana, Pedi, Ndebele, and Shangan
Exequiel Estay – Chile is President of the National Recycling Movement of Chile, which is comprised of more than 20 organizations nationally. He is also Secretary of Communications of the Latin American Recyclers Network, and himself a recycler since 1993.
Expertise: Grassroots Recycling Solutions, Popular Communications and Organizing
Affiliations: National Recycling Movement of Chile, Latin American Recyclers Network, Global Alliance of Wastepickers and Allies
Languages: Spanish
Supriya Bhadakwad – India has worked in the recycling sector as a wastepicker/sorter for 21 years, and is a founding member of the KKPKP wastepickers union in Pune. Since the Hanjer waste-to-energy incineration plant was sited at the Uruli, near the Depot where Supriya works, she has lost access to all salvageable materials, and suffered a significant loss in income.
Expertise: Grassroots Recycling Solutions
Affiliations: KKPKP, Global Alliance of Wastepickers and Allies
Language: Marathi, Hindi (English translator is available)
Mariel Vilella – Spain is the Climate Policy campaigner for GAIA, the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance, and works in coordination with the global wastepickers movement. For the last 10 years she has specialized in environmental justice research and campaign coordination, notably in genetics, food sovereignty, and climate justice and European carbon trading.
Expertise: Environmental justice, climate justice, GMOs
Affiliations: Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternative (GAIA), Global Alliance of Wastepickers and Allies
Languages: Spanish, English
Ananda Lee Tan – USA is the US & Canada Campaign Coordinator for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, an international network of community-based organizations organizing to replace incinerators and landfills with zero waste programs such as recycling. Ananda has played leading roles in a wide range of movements and is committed to building a popular international movement for climate justice & equity.
Expertise: Labor; Climate Justice; Incinerators; Wastepickers;
Affiliations: Via Campesina; NOUMINREN
Languages: English, Hindi, Spanish
Land and Food Sovereignty / Agricultural Policy
Alberto Gómez Flores – Mexico is the National Coordinator of the National Union of Autonomous Regional Farmer Organizations (UNORCA), an autonomous network of Mexican campesinos and indigenous farming organizations. He is also the coordinator of the North American Region of La Via Campesina as well as a member of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) of La Via Campesina.
Expertise: Peasant Mobilizations on Mexico, Climate Change
Affiliations: Via Campesina; CLOC; Via Campesina North America;
Languages: Spanish
Josie Riffaud – France is a member of the Confederation Paysanne, a trade union of small independent farmers–opposed to the industrialization of agriculture and the social, economic and nutritional costs it incurs. Josie is also a member of the International Coordinating committee of La Via Campesina.
Expertise: Climate Change and Agriculture; Anti-Corporate Globalization, Transnational Corporations
Affiliations: Confederation Paysanne, Via Campesina; European Coordination Via Campesina
Languages: French, English
Paul Nicholson – Basque Country is a member of EHNE (Euskal Herriko Nekazarien Elkartasuna), the Basque Farmers Union in the Basque Country, and an ex member of the International Coordinating Committee of la Via Campesina.
Expertise: Peasant Farmer Movements; Food Sovereignty; Climate change and Via Campesina
Affiliations: Euskal Herriko Nekazarien Elkartasun; Via Campesina; European Coordination Via Campesina
Languages: English, Spanish
Chavannes Jean-Baptiste – Haiti is an Agronomist and the founder of the Peasant Movement of Papaye (MPP), which teaches the people of Haiti sustainable agriculture. Chavannes received the Goldman Environment Prize in 2005 for his work on forest protection. MPP has recently led a strong struggle against Monsanto in Haiti.
Expertise: Climate Changes, Carbon Trading, Agrofuels, Monsanto, Haiti
Affiliations: Via Campesina;
Languages: French, Spanish, English
Carlos Marentes – USA is the founder and director of the Border Agricultural Workers Project (BAWP), an effort to organize migrant agricultural workers along the US-Mexico border. BAWP is working to change the current destructive agricultural system. It is based in El Paso, Texas. Carlos is a lead organizer of La Via Campesina caravans to the UNFCCC.
Expertise: Migrant Issues; Agricultural Policies; Boarder Issues; Human Rights
Affiliations: La Via Campesina North America; Border Agricultural Workers Project
Languages: English, Spanish
Luis Andrango – Ecuador is president of FENOCIN (Federación Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas Indígenas y Negras, or National Federation of Indigenous, Peasant, and Black Organizations,), which defines itself as a multi-ethnic peasant-Indigenous organization constituted by over 1200 unions throughout Ecuador. Luis is a leader with La Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (CLOC) and La Via Compesina.
Expertise: Food Sovereignty, Popular Sovereignty, CLOC, Indigenous Rights, Cochabamba Conference
Affiliations: Organizaciones del Campo, FENOCIN, Via Campesina; CLOC;
Languages: Spanish
Nandini Kardahali – is a member of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS, Karnataka State Farmers’ Association). Nandini is a “natural farmer,” practicing agroecological farming methods using local inputs and no chemicals. The KRRS plays a key role in international peasant’s movements through Via Campesina.
Expertise: Agroecology, Farming and Climate Change
Affiliations: Karnataka Rajysa Raitha Sangha, Via Campesina;
Languages: English
Syahroni – Indonesia is a member of the Indonesian Peasants Union (SPI), an organization for small peasants, farm workers, and indigenous communities that fights for agrarian reform, peasant’s rights, food sovereignty, small farmers and the struggle against the neoliberal agenda.
Expertise: REDD in Indonesia; Biofuels, Peasant Movement in Asia
Affiliations: Indonesian Peasants Union, Via Campesina;
Languages: Indonesian
Luis Machunga – Mozambique is a member of União Nacional de Camponeses (National Union of Peasants, UNAC) in Mozambique. UNAC represents peasant farmer’s organizations and helps them to fight for their social, economic and cultural rights and to advocate for public policies and development strategies that secure their food sovereignty.
Expertise: Agrofuels, Farming, Land Grabbing, African Peasant Movements
Affiliations: União Nacional de Camponeses, Via Campesina; CLOC
Languages: Portuguese
Luis Henrique Moura – Brazil is a member of Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST, Landless Worker’s Movement Brazil), is the largest social movement in Latin America with an estimated 1.5 million landless members. Since 1985, the MST has peacefully struggled for land reform by occupying unused land; established farms, schools and clinics; and has promoted indigenous cultures and a sustainable environment.
Expertise: Agroecology; Carbon Markets, Land Reform, Social Movements,
Affiliations: Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, Via Campesina;
Languages: Portuguese
Soniamara Maranho – Brazil is a leader of the Movement of Dam-Affected People (MAB) which operates in 20 states of Brazil in response to the over 2,000 dams. With energy in Brazil being the 4th most expensive in the world, MAB maintains that the hydroelectric dams are used to power the destructive mining operations of private transnational corporations. The MAB struggles for a new model of energy, the rights of victims of dams and mines and most importantly for socialism.
Expertise: Hydropower, Women’s Issues Related to Hydropower and Climate Change
Affiliations: Movement of Dam-Affected People, Via Campesina;
Languages: Portuguese
Ruben Lobos – Argentina is a youth leader of Movimiento Nacional Campesino Indígena (National Indigenous Campesino Movement of Argentina, MNCI) MNCI struggles against monoculture production and land consolidation in Argentina which have forced thousands of farmers off the land. Together with Via Campesina, MNCI proposes an alternative to this damaging form of industrial agriculture, rooted in food sovereignty.
Expertise: Food Seventy; Monsanto – Chemical Herbicides, Forest Destruction;
Affiliations: Encuentro del Movimiento Nacional Campesino Indígena; Via Campesina
Languages: Spanish
Tony Schultz – USA is an organic farmer and sells his produce through a Community Supported Agriculture model. Tony is active in Marathon County Farmers Union and the Family Farm Defenders, which is a member of Via Campesina.
Expertise: Community Supported Agriculture; Small Farms; Organic Agriculture
Affiliations: Via Campesina; Family Farm Defenders
Languages: English
Maria Whittaker-USA is a member of the Food Sovereignty Support Group, the Kansas Chapter of Family Farm Defenders, and of Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural, an alliance of farmers, farm-workers, Indigenous, migrant and working people from North America.
Expertise: Food Sovereignty, Environmental Justice,
Affiliations: Via Campesina; Food Sovereignty Support Group; Family Farm Defenders; Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural
Languages: English, Spanish
Hiroshi Kanno – USA is a member of Family Farms Defenders. He and his wife are celebrated for successfully fighting off the Nestle Company and their plans to pump 500 gallons a minute of water from their local watershed in Wisconsin. The history of the struggle is documented in the book “Thirst, Fighting the Corporate Thief of Our Water.”
Expertise: Water Issues;
Affiliations: Family Farms Defenders, Via Campesina;
Languages: English
Akiyo Mitsukawa – Japan is a member of NOUMINREN, The Japanese Family Farmer Movement, which supports Japan’s farmer’s movement by developing solidarity with the consumers’ and environmental groups
Expertise: Food Sovereignty; GMOs,
Affiliations: Via Campesina; NOUMINREN
Languages: Japanese
Human Right to Water / Rights of Nature
Maude Barlow – Canada is the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and chair of the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch. She is also an executive member of the International Forum on Globalization and a Councilor with the World Future Council. Maude is the recipient of the 2005 Right Livelihood Award; the Citation of Lifetime Achievement at the 2008 Canadian Environment Award; and the 2009 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award. In 2008/2009, she served as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the UN General Assembly. She is the author of also the bestselling author or co-author of 16 books, including Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water.
Expertise: International Water Issues, Grassroots Organizing, Canada, UN and Water
Affiliations: The Council of Canadians
Languages: English, Spanish translator available
Anil Naidoo – Canada is the Blue Planet Project Organizer for the Council of Canadians, a global initiative with partners around the world to achieve the goal of water justice now. He is a founding member of Red Vida (the Americas Water Network), the African Water Network, Our Water Commons and the Reclaiming Public Water Network. Anil has been involved with the water movement since the Kyoto World Water Forum in 2003. Anil has been an expert advisor to the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council on reports related to implementation and securing water and sanitation as human rights. He was also the lead civil-society organizer in establishing the human right to water and sanitation at the UN during the 63rd Session of the General Assembly.
Expertise: International water struggles, international water movements, water as a human right
Affiliations: The Council of Canadians
Languages: English, Spanish translator available
Shannon Biggs – USA directs the Community Rights Program at Global Exchange, assisting citizens to organize and draft new laws to subordinate corporate interests to community priorities, and to recognize nature’s rights. She is the author of the book Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots. She holds a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics.
Expertise: Rights of Nature, Economics
Affiliations: Global Exchange, Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature
Languages: English
Migrant Issues/ Labor Organizing / Urban Issues
Francisca Porchas – USA is a lead organizer of the Clean Air, Clean Lungs, Clean Buses Campaign — the global warming and public health project of the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles. She is also the lead coordinator of the Transit Riders for Public Transportation National Campaign, a civil rights and environmental justice campaign trying to influence the $500 billion federal surface transportation act. Francisca is a part of the Grassroots Global Justice Delegation.
Expertise: Public Health; Transportation Policy; Clean Air
Affiliations: Clean Air, Clean Lungs, Clean Buses Campaign; the Transit Riders for Public Transportation; Grassroots Global Justice
Languages: English, Spanish
Colin Rajah – USA is Program Director of the International Migrant Rights and Global Justice Program at the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR). A political refugee from Malaysia, Colin is authoring a report on the criminalization and exploitation of migrant labor through international development and managed migration policies. Colin serves as the Secretary for Migrant Rights International (MRI), and is a part of the Grassroots Global Justice/Indigenous Environmental Network Delegation and the Grassroots Solutions for Climate Justice North America alignment group.
Expertise: Migrant Issues,
Affiliations: National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Languages: English
Cindy Wiesner – USA is the political coordinator for Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ). She has organized with HERE (Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union), Local 2850, POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights). and GenerationFIVE. Cindy was also the leadership development director at the Miami Workers Center. She is coordinating Grassroots Global Justice/Indigenous Environmental Network Delegation, and the Grassroots Solutions for Climate Justice North America Alignment Group.
Expertise: Climate Justice Organizing; Labor Issues; Migrant Issues; urban issues
Affiliations: Grassroots Global Justice Alliance; GGJA/IEN delegation to Cancun
Languages: English, Spanish
Sharon Lungo – USA is the Program Director for the Ruckus Society. Sharon is the daughter of immigrant parents from El Salvador. Sharon has been engaging in Non Violent Direct Action since the age of 18. She also serves as a local coordinating committee member of the Global Women’s Strike, an international network with a presence in 80 countries.
Expertise: Global Justice; Movement Strategy; Non-Violent Direct Action; Urban Issues
Affiliations: Ruckus Society; Indigenous Environmental Network
Languages: English, Spanish
Women’s and Gender Issues
Jacqueline Patterson – USA has worked as a trainer, program manager, and policy analyst on international and domestic issues and social justice movements with organizations including Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Baltimore City Healthy Start, IMA World Health, United for a Fair Economy, ActionAid, NAACP, Health GAP, and the organization she co-founded, Women of Color United (WOCU).
Expertise: HIV&AIDS, Women’s Issues, Public Health, Racial Justice
Affiliations: Women of Color United, NAACP, National Association of Black Social Workers, Health GAP, Congressional Black Caucus
Languages: English
Aurora Conley – Ojibwe, USA is Ojibwe from the Bad River Indian Reservation in Wisconsin. Aurora organizes around environmental and climate justice issues in tribal communities throughout Midwest Indian Country, with a particular focus on solar installation and youth education. She was an Executive Assistant for Honor the Earth in White Earth, Minnesota.
Expertise: Indigenous Issues; Renewable Energy; Youth Issues. Women’s Issues
Affiliations: Indigenous Environmental Network; Honor the Earth
Languages: English
Youth Issues
Ellen Choy – USA is a core organizer with the Mobilization for Climate Justice West – a grassroots coalition of Bay Area, California groups fighting for climate justice. Ellen is also the co-founder of a popular online platform – ChecktheWeather.net– dedicated to young people of color in the environmental movement redefining ‘green’ through grassroots political education, music & culture and peer-to-peer support.
Expertise: Environmental and Climate Justice; New Media; Non-Violent Direct Action
Affiliations: Mobilization for Climate Justice, Youth 4 Climate Justice
Languages: English
Kari Fulton – USA is an award winning youth climate and environmental justice organizer with the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative. In April of 2009 she co-founded Checktheweather.net a national online community and web platform to support and amplify the voice of young people of color in the US fighting for environmental justice. In February 2010, Fulton was named one of a 100 African American History Makers in the Making by NBC and thegrio.com.
Expertise: Environmental Justice; New Media
Affiliations: Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative; Checktheweather.net; Youth 4 Climate Justice
Languages: English
Raquel Nuñez – USA is currently working as the Youth Coordinator for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO). As an adult ally of the youth at LVEJO, she works to grow and sustain an environmental justice youth leadership program.
Expertise: Environmental Justice; Youth Leadership, Community; Arts and Activism
Affiliations: Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Youth 4 Climate Justice
Languages: English, Spanish
Joaquin “Quetzal” Sanchez – USA is a two-spirit organizer, researcher and poet who recently helped to defeat Proposition 23, California’s Dirty Energy Prop, as well as to build political power with a coalition of 130 organizations representing the communities throughout California affected most by climate change and the ecological crisis.
Expertise: Environmental Justice; Youth Leadership; Impacted Communities
Affiliations: Youth 4 Climate Justice
Languages: English, Spanish
Mitigation and Adaptation
Mari Rose Taruc – USA is the State Organizing Director of Asian Pacific Environmental Network, a California-based grassroots organizing institution that empowers low-income Asian Pacific Islander (API) communities to achieve environmental and social justice. She is the co-chair and staff of SNEEJ (Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice), and is a part of the Grassroots Global Justice/Indigenous Environmental Network Delegation, and the Grassroots Solutions for Climate Justice North America Alignment Group.
Expertise: California Climate Policy, Proposition 23; Anti-Chevron Campaign, Asian-American Issues
Affiliations: Asia Pacific Environmental Network
Languages: English
Sunyoung Yang – USA is a community organizer of the Clean Air, Clean Lungs, Clean Buses Campaign — the global warming and public health project of the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles. She has worked with the Indigenous Environmental Network as part of the Climate Justice Corp internship program. Sunyoung is a part of the Grassroots Global Justice/Indigenous Environmental Network Delegation, and the Grassroots Solutions for Climate Justice North America Alignment Group.
Expertise: Mass Transit, Economic Justice and Climate Change; Biocultural Diversity and Sustainability
Affiliations: Labor/Community Strategy Center, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Languages: English, Spanish, Korean
