For decades, the Amazon River has defined the life, economy, and borders of the “Triple Frontier” (Colombia, Brazil, Peru). However, new hydrological measurements reveal a geomorphological shift: the Amazon’s main channel is actively migrating south, leaving the Colombian bank high and dry.

According to recent data from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL), the deviation is no longer a slow geological process—it is an accelerated crisis. What before was a 30 %, today is only 16.9% of the Amazon River’s water flows through the Colombian channel, while the vast majority (over 83%) has diverted toward the Peruvian coast.

This is not just a story of climate change. It is a story of 20 years of overlooked science and a sudden diplomatic crisis over a new island that has literally redrawn the map: Isla Santa Rosa. 

Why is it happening? A Tale of Three Islands

To understand why this city is losing its access to the Amazon, we must look at three specific geological formations that are acting as the architects of this tragedy.

1. Isla Ronda (The Diverter): Upstream at the Nazareth Bifurcation, this massive island is the root cause. It has grown to a point where it is physically pushing the river’s main current into the southern (Peruvian) channel.
2. Isla de la Fantasía (The Wall): Located directly in front of Leticia’s port, this sediment trap has stabilized into a permanent barrier, blocking the city from the river and turning the harbor into a stagnant backwater.
3. Isla Santa Rosa (The Dispute): This is the new geopolitical dilemma. A massive formation that emerged in the river, it is now the center of a diplomatic difference between Colombia and Peru. While Colombia historically accessed the river here, the shifting channel has led Peru to claim jurisdiction over the island, increasing the isolation of Leticia.

The result is that the “port” of Leticia is increasingly becoming a stagnant backwater lagoon, accessible only by small boats during high water and completely cut off during the dry season.

The Accelerator: Climate Change and the Super-Droughts

While river meandering is a natural process, the speed of this shift is intensified by the global climate crisis. The historic droughts of 2023 and 2024, driven by intense El Niño events and Atlantic warming, lowered river levels to record minimums.

During these low-water periods, the weak current in the Colombian channel lost the hydraulic power needed to “flush” out the sediment. Sandbars that usually wash away in the rainy season have instead calcified and vegetated, turning temporary obstacles into permanent landmasses.

Implications: Beyond the Water Line

The deviation of the Amazon is not merely a logistical inconvenience; it is a systemic shock to the region’s hydrology and biology.

1. Ecological Collapse of Wetlands (The Yahuarcaca System)

The most urgent ecological threat is to the Yahuarcaca Lakes, a complex wetland system just upstream from Leticia. These lakes are not fed by rain, but by the “pulse” of the Amazon River, which recharges them via underground channels and seasonal overflow.

• The Risk: As the main channel moves to Peru, the hydraulic pressure required to fill these lakes diminishes, affecting the primary production for the local ecosystem and serving as a model for how floodplain lakes sustain the wider basin. 
• The Impact: If these lakes disconnect permanently, the primary nursery for the region’s fish populations and the hunting grounds for the endemic Pink River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) is lost. For indigenous communities like the Tikuna and Cocama, this is not just an environmental loss; it is the erasure of their “amphibious culture” and food security.

2. The Geopolitical Dilemma (The Moving Talweg)

The border between Colombia and Peru was fixed by the 1922 Salomón-Lozano Treaty, based on the river’s Talweg—the line of deepest flow. But rivers are dynamic, and treaties are static.

• The Question: If the deep channel permanently shifts kilometers into Peruvian territory, does the border move with it? Or does Colombia retain sovereignty over a dry riverbed?
• The Flashpoint: The emergence of Isla Santa Rosa is a symptom of this ambiguity. Peru claims it is an island in their river; Colombia claims it is part of the historic channel. This geological confusion has now escalated into a diplomatic stalemate.

Conclusion: The Point of No Return?

The tragedy of Leticia is that this hydrological change was a chronicle of a shift foretold.

Since the early 2000s, researchers from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia warned that the Amazon was behaving as an anastomosing river—a multi-channel system prone to rapid switching. They prescribed specific engineering interventions, such as submerged spurs (espolones) and strategic dredging at the Nazareth Strait, to guide the flow back to Colombia.

Those plans were ignored. Now, the region faces an unavoidable choice between two difficult paths:

1. The “Hard” Path (Geo-engineering): Attempting to reverse nature. This would require a massive, binational dredging operation and the construction of river training structures. However, the “tipping point” may have already been reached, where the sediment consolidation at Isla Ronda is so advanced that the river no longer has the energy to be redirected, making this an uphill battle.
2. The “Soft” Path (Adaptation): Accepting that Leticia is no longer a river port. This implies a radical transformation of the city’s economy, shifting away from river commerce and potentially relocating the port facilities kilometers away to a point where the channel is stable—effectively acknowledging that the river has left.

Ultimately, the Amazon teaches a humbling lesson: water does not respect political borders or human infrastructure. Whether through immediate, high-cost engineering or painful adaptation, Colombia must act. If the sediments settle, Leticia will not just be a city without a river—it will be a monument to the cost of ignoring science.

References:

• Periódico UNAL (2024). “El río Amazonas se sigue desviando hacia Perú: nueva medición muestra que hoy Colombia solo tiene el 16,9 % de sus aguas.” Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
• El País (2025). “El problema ambiental que amenaza con dejar al puerto colombiano de Leticia sin conexión al río Amazonas.” El País América Colombia.
• InfoAmazonia (2025). “La advertencia científica de hace décadas sobre el río Amazonas y Leticia que fue ignorada.”InfoAmazonia.
• La Silla Vacía (2025). “Colombia se quedó atrasado en corregir la dinámica del río Amazonas.” La Silla Vacía.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2002). “Amazon River, Leticia – Image ISS004-E-12730.” NASA Gateway to Astronaut Photography.
• BBC Future (2025). “The photos showing why pink dolphins are the Amazon’s great thieves.” (Image Credit: Thomas Peschak).
• Historia y Región (2016). “La ocupación peruana de Puerto Leticia.” (Map Reference).
• Facebook Archive. “Historical Press Release on Amazon Deviation.” (Image Reference).
• Wikimedia Commons. “Map of the Salomon-Lozano Treaty.” (Public Domain).

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This is how I start every guided tour in my job on the MS Wissenschaft: for a total of five weeks, I accompany this swimming science centre to various cities and towns in Germany and Austria. How did this happen? I already visited the MS Wissenschaft in Mainz when I was a child, and then again last year when two friends who also studied GCE and Geoecology worked on the ship. I got curious about this job, even more when I got to know this year’s topic. So, I decided to apply.

The 27 exhibits have been created by scientists themselves to present their research to the public. The exhibition is organised by Wissenschaft im Dialog (Science in Dialogue). Accordingly, I would like to enter a dialogue with you during this tour. So, what do you associate with “Future Energy”?

Entrance to the exhibition

Guided tours are my favourite task here but by far not the only one. We – a team of four students working in two-week shifts – are responsible to run the exhibition: we open for the public at 10 am (on school days already at 9), welcome visitors at the info desk, take care that the exhibits work and fix them if not, set up (and recollect) info boards out in the streets, and after closing at 18:30, we disinfect the exhibits and treat the yellow carpet with industrial vacuum cleaners before we switch off electricity.

While more than half of the electric energy produced in Germany, on average, already comes from “renewable” sources like wind or solar power, other sectors are still mostly dependent on fossil fuels. Heating and cooling, for example, have a fossil share higher than 80 percent. Most households are still heating with fossil gas or oil. Geothermal energy and electric heat pumps are the main technologies to transform this sector.

One of my favourite exhibits is the one on geothermal energy by the Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences

Yes, we also live on the ship: there are two small apartments with a comfort somewhere between a caravan and a hostel. So, I had to be ready to share a limited space and nearly all my time with people I didn’t know before, except for a two-days introductory meeting in Berlin in April. But so far, this experience has been excellent. I have only worked with nice people who have a good time together but can also rely on each other in critical moments.

Another big challenge of the energy transition is to store energy from “renewable” sources for times of high electricity demand or diverse other applications. All technologies have advantages and disadvantages. Lithium-ion batteries which we all use in our phones, for example, have a high efficiency. But they contain resources like lithium, which is currently extracted with severe environmental damages, mostly in Latin America. Therefore, researchers at the Leibniz Institute for New Materials in Saarbrücken are aiming to scale up electrochemical lithium extraction which would allow to produce or recycle lithium regionally with little environmental impacts.

On the Moselle

What I like most about working on the MS Wissenschaft is that I learn a lot – and not just about energy. I also get to know various places and people in Germany (and, in September, Austria). Without this job, I would probably never have visited the Bucher Brack nature conservation area in the Elbe floodplain, nor the water mill museum in Saarburg. The best are the passages between the stops, when we sit on deck and enjoy the view on the landscapes – and on impressive constructions like the canal bridge over the Elbe, giant sluices, and hydropower stations.

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is a long-established technology: when excess electricity is available, water is pumped up to a reservoir. Once the energy is needed, the water can be released to power turbines. Advantages of this storage technology are its high capacity and flexibility. However, the facilities require a lot of space which means massive interventions in the landscape and its ecosystems. Nevertheless, researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology are working on a new type of pumped-storage hydroelectricity, Stored Energy at Sea (StEnSea): hollow concrete spheres on the deep-sea floor with a pump-turbine to empty or fill the sphere with seawater on demand.

Several hundreds of people visit our exhibition every day. As a facilitator, I have the chance to meet people of all ages and social backgrounds: a shepherd from rural Saxony-Anhalt, the last manager of a coal mine, or the science minister of Saarland. I also learn a lot from our guests – ranging from trivial facts (for example, that windmills always turn clockwise), to their views on and experiences with the energy transition, and sometimes their entire life stories.

Hydrogen is a major topic in politics and media recently, and also in our exhibition: about one third of the exhibits is directly related to hydrogen production and use. Currently, most hydrogen in Germany is produced from fossil gas; only about 5 percent is “green hydrogen” generated with “renewable” energy through electrolysis. A lot of research focuses on scaling up this and associated technologies.

Not the least, I have the chance to apply some knowledge that I gained in my GCE studies. For example, when I had my first full conversation with a man who denied that climate change is anthropogenic, I felt very well prepared thanks to Prof. Buermann’s climatology lecture.

A disadvantage of hydrogen as an energy storage is its low efficiency: with current technologies, about half the energy invested is lost during transformations. Therefore, hydrogen is sometimes called the “Champagne” of the energy transition. Nevertheless, it can play an important role in substituting fossil fuel in processes that otherwise could hardly be decarbonised, like steel production or chemical industries.

While I overall like this job very much, the tasks are also tiresome and repetitive, and I grew very critical of the exhibition. For example, in my view, there are too many screens, and several exhibits lack comprehensive explanations. But my main critique is that the exhibition overall focuses on “technological solutions” while there is nearly no trace of energy sufficiency and the behavioural changes towards economies and societies within planetary boundaries. I believe this is the precondition for science and technology to be part of the solution to our pressing ecological crises.

Who of you has already heard of e-fuels? I’d like to finish our tour with the production of synthetic liquid fuel using the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. This process was already invented 100 years ago to make liquid fuel from coal. Our ship, too, runs on fuel made with Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, but from fossil gas. Scientists at the Max Planck Institutes in Mülheim an der Ruhr are developing this process further to generate nearly carbon-neutral liquid fuels from “green hydrogen” and carbon dioxide. However, neither electrolysis nor carbon capture are available on large scales yet, and even if so, a lot of energy will always be lost throughout the process, making the end product highly inefficient. Therefore, we should not fall for the lies of the fossil industry that tries to promote e-fuels as a pretext to go on with their dirty businesses. For instance, it would make no sense to power private cars or heating with e-fuels because these applications can be electrified directly and, thus, more efficiently. Synthetic fuels might, however, be needed to decarbonise purposes that cannot be electrified more directly, such as aviation or ships.

The MS Wissenschaft will stop in Bamberg from August 31 to September 3, and in Nürnberg from September 4 to 7. The entrance is free. I will not be there, but my colleagues surely would be happy to welcome you. You can find more information on the website (https://ms-wissenschaft.de) and on Instagram (@mswissenschaft).

Thank you for your attention and enjoy your stay aboard!

The post MS Wissenschaft: Science Communication in a Special Place appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

At first, environmentalism and right-wing extremism seem worlds apart. Most environmentalists such as us GCE students would consider ourselves as democratic, humanists, and progressive thinkers, invested in addressing climate change, global challenges and working for a sustainable future for all. Meanwhile, right-wing movements downplay or outright deny environmental problems. They typically follow a predictable path: Denial (the problem doesn’t exist), Trivialization (the problem isn’t that bad), and, in more extreme cases, Inevitability (the removal of limits on means/ “Entgrenzung der Mittel”). It is this latter path – what could be called ‘unhinged environmentalism’ or eco-fascism—that we must be aware of.

Fortunately, most right-wing political parties (like Germany’s AfD, France’s RN and Poland’s PiS) still deny or trivialize climate change and environmental degradation. While being a hindrance to the sustainability movement, it prevents more radical ideas from infiltrating mainstream debates. We must keep our eyes and ears open for the growing influence of such ideas, particularly online.

It is important to note that the far-right is a paradoxical one. The views presented here reflect extreme cases. Nonetheless, it’s crucial for environmentalists to understand these arguments to counteract their misuse of terminology, ethics, and democratic values.

Right Ecologism

Environmentalism is not a new topic for far-right movements. Nationalist, anti-immigration, and environmental themes have long been used to promote their agendas. One prominent argument is a Neo-Malthusian perspective, which frames sustainability problems because of resource scarcity and too many people using the resource. Rather than reflecting critically on resource overuse or advocating for shared commons practices, this view leads to exclusion and the securitization of current resource ownership and power structures. Many environmental scientists are familiar with Garrett Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons,” which highlights how resources can become overused when people fail to coordinate sustainable practices. What many might not know is that Hardin’s work has been co-opted by right-wing arguments. In one of his lesser-known works “Lifeboat Ethics” Hardin argued that wealthier nations cannot afford immigration because, in his analogy, if the lifeboat sinks, everyone is worse off. Such thinking, coming from an ‘environmentalist,’ is a far cry from what we might expect in the context of social responsibility. Similarly calls for “securing our lithium supply” by sending troops to mines in the global south are just the tip of the iceberg of nationalists “sustainability” ideas.

Terrorist attacks in Christchurch (2019) and El Paso (2019) provide horrifying examples of how environmental rhetoric can be weaponized. The manifestos of the attackers heavily referenced environmental issues like soil degradation and overpopulation, suggesting that in their logic environmental problems justify extreme measures against certain populations.

Beyond resource scarcity, right-wing extremists have also abused ecological concepts to reinforce their ideologies. The misuse of Darwinian theories in social settings to justify claims of racial superiority is well known, but can also be found in other ecological terminology. For instance, invasive species are used to create hierarchies between people. The “blood and soil” rhetoric of Nazism, which emphasized the connection between people and the environment they grew up in, has resurfaced in modern far-right discourse. Recently, members of France’s Rassemblement National argued that migrants “don’t fit the climate” of the nation or that their presence would destroy the environment, claiming that “migrants do not value our nature as we do.” This intertwining of nature protection with identity politics reflects a troubling shift in environmental discourse.

Historically, nature protection policies such as “protected areas” have been used as exclusionary tactics in places with marginalized populations, such as Yellowstone National Park or National Parks in India. The concept of “supremacy of Earth over people” was and is used to justify policies that excluded indigenous and local communities from protected lands. Such ideologies, built on the belief that the land should be “preserved” for the “right” people … we all know where we heard that before.

Discourse shifts

As the climate crisis intensifies, we see the discourses shift. With increasingly frequent and severe climate events, and the rise of climate-driven migration (“disaster displacement”), calls for extreme measures will likely gain support. As denialism becomes harder to sustain, we will see more voices advocating for drastic and unhinged solutions in the name of sustainability and survival. This could range from calls to halt migration entirely to demands for control over lithium resources in the Global South to ensure that the Global North maintains its power.

In this context, extreme measures once considered unthinkable could become more acceptable. The rise of such rhetoric is concerning because it moves previously extremist ideas into the mainstream of debate. A paraphrased Hannah Arendt, “Every time we put something in the right corner, the rest moves more to the center.” The normalization of extreme ideas, even in the name of environmentalism, holds a significant threat to democratic values.

So

What Now?

So, what can we do in response? There are no simple solutions. As environmentalists, scientists, and human beings, we must continue to speak out against the abuse of environmental rhetoric. We must work towards sustainability in ways that honor human rights and inclusivity. We should also advocate for a more transformative approach to sustainability science—one that emphasizes not just urgency of the problems but fairness, equity, and justice in the solutions.

Much has been written about the potential dangers of alarmist narratives in climate science. We must speak out against politics that separates us from them. But as we move forward as scientists, activists and citizens, it’s clear that we must find a way to build solution-oriented narratives that prioritize human rights, democratic values, and a vision of sustainability that serves everyone – not just the few.

This blog post is inspired by conversations, research on the “Völkische Szene” from Lüneburg University, and various pieces of literature:

• Außen Grün – innen Braun by S. Moore & A. Roberts (2022)
• Ecofascism Revisited by J. Biehl & P. Staudenmaier (1995)
• Department for Radicalization Prevention and Engagement in Nature Conservation: www.nf-farn.de
• Environmental migration: Migration Data Portal
• Discurse shift (in german): https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/apuz/diskurskultur-2023/541849/rechtspopulistische-diskursverschiebungen/

The post Environmentalism and Right Extremism: A Growing Paradox appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

The Anthropocene

Humans are a planetary force. Since the Agricultural Revolution, 12’000 years ago, we have reduced the number of trees by half and increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere by 44%. Dumping all the concrete ever produced would cover the entire globe with a layer two millimetres thick [1].  
It is clear that we cannot continue on this destructive path, but how can we turn the tide?

The answer lies buried deep in the paradigms and structures of our societies, especially in the Global North. They shape our environments, the choices we can make, right down to our most intimate desires and even our fantasies of what the world could be like. As the saying goes “it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism”. If we want to enable the good life for everybody on this planet within the ecological limits, we must first of all break these chains of conventional thinking.

Igniting action

But where do we start? Just like a chemical reaction needs energy, we also need a catalyst that ignites something within us. We all know that being bombarded with facts, figures and how-to guides does not feel motivating and it can even make us feel worse. It is time to harness the force of emotions and specifically the power of awe.

Defining awe is a lost cause, for it reigns where words fall short. When you are in a state of awe, you are immersed in your surroundings, your inner monologue quietens, your ego falls by the wayside. You feel small on the one hand, but all the more deeply connected on the other. Your mind is filled with curiosity and wonder.

You might argue that you can also feel this when you lose yourself in surfing, playing table tennis or whatever it is that gives you the feeling of flow. And you are absolutely right. But there is one dimension of awe that we have not yet talked about. That is, how it makes us think and feel about nature.

Reconnect to nature

Written texts from the past 500 years show us that awe has always been an important element of experiencing nature. Ever since, it has also been described as a challenging experience marked by tension, overwhelming and captivating feelings at once. Awe differs from beauty in its power and limitlessness. Through awe, nature escapes control and domestication. It is not belittled like a well-tended garden, but admired and respected. Consistent with this, psychological research has found that awe enhances people’s connection to nature [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. It actively works against the belief that humans dominate nature. Instead, it favours an ecological worldview that sees humans as one creature among many, co-existing in the biosphere.

The solution to our problems will not be to leave one half of the earth to its own devices and continue to ruthlessly extract what we think we need from the other half. The problem is not the human species, but our current relationship with the natural world. We need to move beyond the black and white thinking of either destruction or protection. It is about a new engagement with nature, and I am convinced that awe can be a stepping stone to that.

Awe and sustainable lifestyles

Awe can catalyse the transformation to sustainable lifestyles in various ways. First, it diverts attention from ourselves, which evokes feelings of humility and connection. Applied to sustainability, it can strengthen the motivation to protect people and the environment, even if this involves personal sacrifice. The effectiveness for promoting altruistic behaviour is also supported by the possible evolutionary origin of awe. This implies that awe is adaptive for individuals precisely by taming the dominance of self-interest for the benefit of the social collective. It enables individuals to gain perspective and find their place in the group. In light of this, awe has lost none of its importance over the past millennia. We should harness the moral capacity of awe at a time when the primacy of individualism is bringing us to the brink of an ecological disaster.

Above all, experiencing awe as a positive emotion is a valuable experience in and of itself, leading to increases in mood and well-being. It may also change the perception of time and reduce impatience, which is a significant effect in a chronically stressed society.

Finally, awe seems to encourage people to find meaning in their lives, engage in experiential activities and favour communal over commercial relationships. Overall, the experience of awe is a prime example of the idea of a symbiotic relationship between human well-being and environmental conservation.

Conclusion

Whenever you feel like it’s impossible to change the system, awe can be the shift in perspective that helps you look at the world with a sense of possibility. When you feel stressed, awe can give you the space to breathe. When you feel like you never have enough, awe can give you a sense of gratitude. And finally, when you feel lonely and isolated, awe can be the connector that provides you with a sense of belonging.

We can use awe in art, in architecture, in spatial planning and in communication. But the easiest way is to walk through the world with your eyes wide open, ready to be touched and awed.

References

[1] Lewis, S. L. & Maslin, M. A. (2018). The Human Planet. How We Created the Anthropocene. London: Penguin Books.

[2] Bai, Y., Maruskin, L. A., Chen, S., Gordon, A. M., Stellar, J. E., McNeil, G. D., … Keltner, D. J. (2017). Awe, the diminished self, and collective engagement: Universals and cultural variations in the small self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(2), 185–209. Link here

[3] Bethelmy, L. C. & Corraliza, J. A. (2019). Transcendence and the Sublime Experience in Nature: Awe and Inspiring Energy. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 509. Link here

[4] Yang, Y., Hu, J., Jing, F. & Nguyen, B. (2018). From Awe to Ecological Behavior: The Mediating Role of Connectedness to Nature. Sustainability, 10(7), 2477. Link here
[5] Wang, L., Zhang, G., Shi, P., Lu, X. & Song, F. (2019). Influence of Awe on Green Consumption: The Mediating Effect of Psychological Ownership. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2484. Link here

[6] Zhao, H., Zhang, H., Xu, Y., Lu, J. & He, W. (2018). Relation Between Awe and Environmentalism: The Role of Social Dominance Orientation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2367. Link here

The post Sparking action: How awe can reconnect us to our planet appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Currently, Brazil has a national goal to restore 12 million ha of native vegetation by 2030 [3]. The aim to invest in research and science in order to establish restoration efforts and policies sounds very promising and important, given that many Brazilian biomes and ecosystems are not so well known and this could aid prioritization efforts. Sadly, the first quarter of this year has already marked another deforestation record for the Amazon – 69% more than last year’s during the same period [4]. This situation is so controversial that we might feel somewhat hopeless. However, we are aiming for the opposite here! Learning more about our biomes, understanding their importance for distinct scales, and how our relationship with nature impact positively for the creation of different restoration initiatives can lead to a big wave of change.

In this GCE Blog series on Brazilian biomes, I will explore each of these biomes’ characteristics, the present biodiversity, historical changes, their current state and research gaps. So, stick with me and get to know a bit more of my country!

References:

[1] IBGE – Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics

[2] Guerra et al. 2020. Ecological restoration in Brazilian biomes: Identifying advances and gaps. Forest Ecology and Management, 458, 117802.

[3] Brazil 2017. Ministério do Meio Ambiente. Planaveg: Plano Nacional de Recuperação da Vegetação Nativa/Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento. Ministério da Educação: Brasília, DF. 73 p. ISBN: 978-85-7738-336- 8.

[4] The Guardian. ‘Record after record’: Brazil’s Amazon deforestation hits April high, nearly double previous peak.

The post Brazilian Biomes: Intro Series appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

The answer is YES, there’s still a difference. It is true that the world has changed a lot since the first wave of feminism, where women sought access to equal education, the right to vote, as well as physical and financial independence. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve true gender equality. A familiar example of this is that – even in the middle of 2022 – there is still a significant wage gap between men and women. In Germany, the difference is 18% and in Europe, it is 13%. Another example of this is the lack of representation in government institutions: the European Parliament is currently made up with only 39.2% women, which is the historical maximum.

Nor should we forget to mention our sisters from the global south and other parts of the world who are currently fighting against a system that neglects justice. These women are redesigning the current legal instruments to counter gender violence. In several states, they have achieved the right to legal, accessible and free abortion. They are seeking to modify the education system to include integral sexual education. We also must recognize the efforts of our ecofeminist sisters who organize, give their time, will, body and life to defend natural resources against large exploitative companies. In this context, it is clear that gender-based abuse is also observed across the environmental scheme during the use, management and/or protection of nature. This shows that being a woman in different social contexts represents different challenges and inequalities.

“Que tú privilegio no nuble tu empatía”

“That your privilege doesn’t cloud your empathy “

Furthermore, Climate Change is a phenomenon that increases inequality and endangers women’s lives. First of all, the climate crisis does not affect everyone in the same way. Women and minorities are the most affected, as in many cases they are responsible for managing, administering and protecting household resources, such as collecting water, caring for backyard gardens to feed their families, managing the wood from their forests, etc. All these activities depend on climatic health, so climate change threatens their livelihoods and leaves them in a vulnerable position. Moreover, structural inequality limits the capacities of communities to adapt to the effects of climate change, which again makes them more vulnerable.

Considering all that has been mentioned, it is important to analyze gender inequality and its relation to the climate crisis through the lens of intersectionality. In this way, we can include the systemic inequalities that are configured from the overlapping of different social factors such as gender, ethnicity and social class. All the situations of violence and inequality faced by women show that being a woman in this society is clearly a disadvantage. A major question arises: if we are aware of the inequality, why does it still exist?

Our current conditions are a response to a historical truth: we live under a patriarchal system. But what do we mean when we talk about patriarchy? Patriarchy is an unequal hierarchical system, which attributes characteristics, roles, status and behavior to each sex based on their gender. It divides women from men based on a supposed female inferiority, giving men the dominant power. According to Kate Millet, patriarchy is a “system of male domination that facilitates the oppression and subordination of women”.

This same relationship of domination and subjugation experienced by feminized bodies is replicated with nature. Both have been objectified and used as a territory of conquest, as objects of exploitation, and are victims of violence. Nature and women are to a large extent victims of the externalities of economic development.

Currently, we live under an economic system that subjugates territories and nature in favor of a supposed economic development based on accumulated production and consumption. Moreover, this economic system is controlled by invisible forces, under the misguided idea of infinite growth and the fantasy of individuality on a planet with limited resources. Therefore, we can say that the climate crisis and gender inequality have patriarchal roots and are partly the result of supremacist capitalism.

Adriana Guzman, an anti-patriarchal community feminist from Bolivia, goes further and refers to patriarchy as “the system of all oppressions, all discriminations and all violence that humanity and nature historically built on women’s bodies”, therefore she considers that all oppressions, such as the exploitation generated by capitalism, are learned directly in women’s bodies.

The relationship of violence and harm against feminized bodies and the environment comes from the same systemic mechanisms. Therefore, we can state that achieving gender equity means ending the patriarchal capitalist system, which means we need a complete deconstruction of social schemes under a scheme of domination. It also means that we should have inclusion of a diversity of ideas and worldviews with which we could build a better reality for society.

It must be noted that, nowadays the same factors, actors and systems that caused the climate crisis are the ones that pretend to look for solutions. Other voices and ideas are ignored, which creates a lack of representativity and stops the development of holistic, integral and effective solutions. Similarly, it is not possible to reach comprehensive goals and solutions to the climate crisis if we do not address our colonial past and the remnants of post-colonialism, as well as the methods of exploitation of territories. Therefore, the ecological and feminist dimensions are essential to transform the conception and management of territories and of planet earth.

Likewise, being aware that patriarchy exists and that it is a structural problem is only the first step in eradicating it. Marilyn Fyre argues that the power of domination exercised by men has been internalized in society for so long that it will be difficult to break it. This system takes shape in everyday life; what may seem normal and correct does not always follow ethical principles. This can be seen in subtle attitudes like mansplaining to situations that threaten our lives such as domestic violence and femicide. For that reason, it is necessary to question our reality and try to reach awareness about the behaviour, rules and norms in our society. A feminist perspective should be included in the government agendas, discussed in the school and universities and must be recognized part of the climate change solutions.

However, patriarchy still shapes our lives. We must not forget that women have to achieve several improvements to make the world more equal. Our current conditions are the result of the strength of our feminist collectives and women ancestors who were labelled as witches or madwomen while being doctors, philosophers, leaders and fighters for rights. They were women who, with the right conditions, managed to change the social structure little by little. Moreover, women collectives and leaders are still fighting to break the system that was designed for favoured men. We are now looking to end inequality and create a new society where the dominant and abusive relationships between the people and nature are broken. There’s still too much to do, but we will be able to shape a new reality.

The post The SDGs Series (Goal 5): Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

The topic

As the name already suggests, the School focuses on land use, land use change and the effect of these changes on ecosystems. In more detail, lectures addressed the modelling of land use change, the question of how land use is integrated in policy frameworks like IPBES as well as issues related to ecosystem services, species habitats, and biodiversity. Although some of these topics might seem familiar and are covered within GCE lectures, I really enjoyed looking at them from a land use (change) standpoint.

Furthermore, the School approached the discussed topics from a socio-ecological perspective, incorporating concepts like resilience, vulnerability, and risk management. Besides, we got a lot of input about past, present and future drivers of land use change and discussed the role of social networks and human impact, e.g., in form of deforestation or land abandonment. What I really enjoyed is that they tried to show how these changes and processes are connected on an international scale.

The format and lecturers

The organizers really put a strong effort into making the School as applied and active as possible. A usual day would start with a lecture followed by a Q&A session or a quick discussion round and an introduction into the group work, which was continued in the afternoon. The days adjourned by presenting the group work and having discussions about the topic. On two of the days, we had the chance to exchange our ideas about two posted questions through reading and commenting on each others’ ideas (basically a virtual form of a discussion forum). The group exercises were definitely a big plus. Using different models or assessment tools, we had to investigate about the effect of different land use and emission scenarios, and how these changes would differ between countries. We also took a closer look into the changes in ecosystem productivity under different land use scenarios.

I highly valued the broad variety of platforms, modelling tools, and datasets that they selected for the group exercises. It gave a great insight into the availability of (open source) data and makes you want to use this data for future analysis. Especially for students that like to dive into the field of land use (change), this could be beneficial for a future thesis or project. One other point why I recommend this School are the professors and lecturers. All are major experts in their field and have been closely engaged in important (research) activities, e.g., the writing of the IPBES report. They are very motivated to share their knowledge and are always happy to have a personal talk.

The participants and the setting

The School is open to international master and PhD students. I think the committee did a great job in selecting the participants. We had a diverse group with an almost equal split between master and PhD students. For me, I really enjoyed hearing about the projects the PhD students were conducting, and I think their perspectives enriched the discussions a lot. It was also nice to see some real-world projects dealing with land use change and the challenges they were facing. Even online, we had some very cool discussions and I assume that this is even better when the School will take place in person this year in the alpine region of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Although I have only been there during my free time, I can definitely say that this is a great region to spend a Summer School and I am convinced that the organizers have great excursions planned for this year, too.

Any drawbacks?

Well, as the master program GCE is very diverse, there are topics that have been covered in classes before. Especially the lectures about ecosystem services, biodiversity or the CBD will be more of a repetition rather than new knowledge. However, putting these topics in the light of land use change adds some new perspectives and I believe that it can be a nice possibility to refresh some knowledge or engage even more in the discussions. Moreover, the many tools, models and datasets that you will get to know during the School can be very beneficial for people that want to pursue a career in the field of land use and ecosystem change.

Wrap-up

I would recommend this School to anyone interested in land use, the drivers and challenges of land use change, and the relation to social system. The School offers a new perspective into a topic, i.e. land use change, that I find GCE courses only cover partly. If you are looking for motivating and engaging professors to extend your network, then you are absolutely right to go for this School. If you want completely new knowledge, then this Summer School might not be your first choice, as some of the topics are covered by the GCE program modules.

I hope I could motivate some of you to take part in this School. This year, the Summer School will take place from the 16^th to the 23^rd of August. Applications are still open until May 27^th, 2022. Keep in mind that you need a signed motivation letter, so don’t wait too long!

More information about this year’s summer school clicking here.

The post KIT Summer School 2021: Land Use and Ecosystem Change appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Covering a bit of history: Before engineering structures, each person was responsible for their own water, including its collection, disposal after use, and so on. Needless to say, health issues were common. With the intervention of governments and the development of engineering, sanitation structures began to be implemented in order to engineer away the problem (wastewater). Therefore, healthier environments were stablished, and, throughout time, water and wastewater treatment plants would ground the provision of clean water and sanitation for society. The first water treatment plant was built in 1804 in Scotland, and the concept was further improved in the 1890s in America [1]. Much has been accomplished to provide healthy environments and the basic right of clean water and sanitation. Nevertheless, all of this is centralized, and, unfortunately, there are still countries and societies who endure hardships to this day just to have water.

Brave Blue World also touches on the topic of inequalities. When in Zambia, Matt Damon (co-founder of Water.org) spoke to a local 14-year-old kid who has to walk miles to get water for her family from a bore-well. She told him she wants to go to the big city and become a nurse when she grows up. These circumstances affect the lives of people in underdeveloped countries, preventing them to have education, achieve their dreams and improve their lives. Currently, there are organizations, such as Matt Damon’s, who provide microloans to people from the global south to help them buy their own filters and technologies to have access to clean water. They can pay back 6 dollars a month, and their overall feedback is that 99% of the loans are duly paid. Simple initiatives can create massive impact on people’s lives and the planet.

Today the largest water treatment plant of the world is located in Chicago, which is home to around 3 million people. This means that not only there is an immense water supply demand, but also that an average of 750 million gallons of wastewater are discharged every day. Due to the high amount of organic matter and nutrients present in wastewater, it can cause eutrophication in rivers and lakes. Besides touching the water crisis, the documentary also brings to attention that, although present in wastewater, phosphorus is a finite resource, essential to living beings, which might be in shortage by 2035. From that, Brave Blue World presents a technology that harvests nutrients from wastewater to produce an agricultural fertilizer, showing that turning “waste” into resource is the best way to sustainability.

Spain, Denmark, USA, Mexico, and India are some of the countries showing examples of innovation to mitigate the water crisis. These span from simple solutions, such as reuse, water recycling and a “water box”, to outstanding ideas, like aquaporin proteins and biofuel from wastewater to drive your car. The water crisis is a global one, which is also accentuated by climate change, pollution, and infrastructure failure. Poor sanitation is the cause of death of more than 1,200 children under 5 years old every day- that is more than tuberculosis, measles, and AIDS altogether. Everyone is responsible for this. It is crucial to rethink our water demand and uses. Environmental topics, such as climate change and water crises, should be covered by the school curriculum. Brands and industries should also re-assess their ways of production, and governments should support both nature and society with policies and finance in order to revert this scenario. “Brave Blue World: Racing to solve our water crisis” is an alert, food for thought, a cry, a bust of inspiration and a must-watch. You can stream it on Netflix.

References:

1. Lenntech – History of water treatment

The post A Movement for Water: Brave Blue World Review appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

        Water is also a vehicle for many bacteria, protozoa and viral pathogens, which can cause diseases associated with gastroenteritis, and even other severe illnesses, such as meningitis and hepatitis [2]. Furthermore, with climate change influencing higher frequency of extreme events, the quantity and quality of water is compromised by both droughts and floods. Hence, the Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, encompassing six targets to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, as well as sanitation and hygiene, improving water quality, increasing water efficiency in the different sectors, implementation of an integrated water resources management, and protection and restoration of ecosystems [3].

Clean Water, Sanitation, and Health

        In 2020, officials recorded that 2 billion people (or 26% of the global population) lack access to safe potable water, and 3.6 billion people (or 46% of the global population) do not have access to safely managed sanitation facilities [4]. Access to clean drinking water and sanitation infrastructure is closely linked to health. In fact, a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2012 concluded that every US$1.00 invested in sanitation would result in a return of US$5.50 in lower costs for health systems, increasing productivity, and preventing premature deaths [5]. According to WHO data, the region most affected by sanitation deficiency is Sub-Saharan Africa, where 12% of the population has access to basic sanitation facilities, 19% has a limited structure available, 31% has the use of an unimproved system, and 18% practices open defecation (Figure 1). Additionally, other regions that have less than 50% of their population with access to safely managed sanitation systems include: Latin America and Caribbean, Western Asia and Northern Africa, and Central and Southern Asia.

        Experts estimate that the absence of proper water and sanitation facilities is the leading cause of the death for 827,000 people in low- and middle- income countries [5]. The main associated diseases are diarrhoea (responsible for 60% of the aforementioned number of deaths), cholera, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis A, and polio, besides illnesses caused by intestinal worms, such as schistosomiasis and trachoma, and malnutrition [5; 7]. A sad reality, considering that most of these diseases can be easily preventable with access to potable water and to adequate sanitation systems. For instance, improved water and sanitation access could avert the deaths of children under age 5, which is estimated to be 297,000, as well as stunting [5].

         Furthermore, the current reality of precarious water and sanitation systems in many places around the world makes the fight against the spread of COVID-19 even more challenging. Adequate hygiene measures are key to prevent the spread of the virus. However, in low income countries, there is a high deficiency in water services to provide this benefit of proper hygiene. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only 26% of its population have access to basic handwashing facilities (soap and water), 40% have limited access (i.e. without water or soap), and 34% completely lack any service or alternative [6]. Moreover, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been reported in wastewater, although the knowledge on the infectivity of the virus via wastewater is limited at the moment [8].

Clean Water, Sanitation, and Climate Change

         Climate change represents a serious threat to the provision of clean freshwater worldwide. This is largely due to the finding that climate change is projected to cause shifts in patterns of precipitation and evaporation, as well as alter the frequency and severity of extreme weather events [9, 10]. Estimates suggest that modifications in surface water area indicative of drought and flooding events are taking place in about one-fifth of the world’s river basins [11]. Droughts decrease water availability while maintaining or increasing demand, leading to water scarcity. Without the water they need for drinking, hygiene, or other uses like agriculture, people suffer. The little-available water can be more likely to contain pollutants, which can impact human health [12]. People may be driven to drink contaminated water, which results in a surge in waterborne diseases. With little or no rainfall and no water for irrigation, agriculture and livestock are negatively affected, and food supply also becomes endangered [13]. Additionally, drought-driven lack of water can cause conflict among users, as they compete for a dwindling resource. When conflict arises, it can impact and divert resources from the community’s infrastructure, including systems to maintain and sanitize fresh water [14].

         Like too little water, too much water is also a problem. When extreme events like flooding occur, there can be negative consequences for water quality and sanitation systems [15]. Flooding events have been associated with the presence of higher levels of microbes and pathogens, as well as metals and chemical and organic contaminants [16, 17]. Increased surface runoff associated with heavy rainfall can pick up sediment, contaminants like fertilizer, and other pollutants, which then might be transferred to a community’s water source [15, 17]. Heavy rainfall and flooding can also overload and damage infrastructure and sanitation systems, leaving communities with contaminated, unsafe water [18].

        Sustainable use of water resources, along with resilient infrastructure, forms a basis for gaining and maintaining access to clean water and sanitation for vulnerable communities across the world. An integrated, participatory approach to management, combined with risk assessment and adaptive solutions, including community lead and/or nature-based solutions, can increase water security and safety [19]. Strengthening cooperation between communities, countries, and other stakeholders, including with transboundary water management, promotes knowledge-sharing, harmonises the use of water resources, and ultimately augments the effectiveness of water governance. Additionally, increasing effective climate action and the protection of natural ecosystems will enhance the stability of the earth system and, thus, of water resources [20, 21].

Conclusions

         Ensuring the availability and accessibility of clean water to all, particularly in the face of ongoing climate change, is a key challenge moving forward. Access to sanitation systems and sufficient quantities of clean, quality water is paramount to human health and helps to fight diseases, including COVID-19. Prevention and investments in safely and sustainably managed water systems and sanitation facilities improve health and quality of life, besides contributing to a positive feedback in the economy for the health system. It is important to have this awareness and continue to develop technologies, form connections among various stakeholders, and engage in action in order to make progress towards the achievement of the targets of the SDG 6 for a universal and equitable access to water and sanitation systems.

References

[1] Bureau of Reclamation: Water Facts – Worldwide water supply

[2] Gall, A.M., Mariñas, B.J., Lu, Y., & Shisler, J.L. (2015). Waterborne Viruses: A Barrier to Safe Drinking Water. PLoS Pathogens, 11(6): e1004867

[3] United Nations: Goal 6 – Ensure access to water and sanitation for all

[4] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development: Goal 6 – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

[5] World Health Organization: Sanitation Fact sheets

[6] Our World in Data: Clean water and sanitation

[7] World Health Organization: Water, sanitation and hygiene – exposure

[8] Kitajima et al. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater: State of the knowledge and research needs. Science of The Total Environment 739: 139076.

[9] IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.

[10] Konapala, G., Mishra, A.K., Wada, Y. et al. (2020). Climate change will affect global water availability through compounding changes in seasonal precipitation and evaporation. Nature Communications 11: 3044.

[11] UN Summary Progress Update 2021: SDG 6 – Water and sanitation for all; 

[12] Benotti, M. J., Stanford, B. D., & Snyder, S. A. (2010). Impact of drought on wastewater contaminants in an urban water supply. Journal of environmental quality 39(4): 1196–1200.

[13] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Health Implications of Drought;

[14] Levy, B. S., & Sidel, V. W. (2011). Water rights and water fights: preventing and resolving conflicts before they boil over. American journal of public health, 101(5): 778–780.

[15] Erickson, T. B., Brooks, J., Nilles, E. J., Pham, P. N., & Vinck, P. (2019). Environmental health effects attributed to toxic and infectious agents following hurricanes, cyclones, flash floods and major hydrometeorological events. Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part B, Critical reviews 22(5-6): 157–171.

[16] Yard, E. E., Murphy, M. W., Schneeberger, C., Narayanan, J., Hoo, E., Freiman, A., Lewis, L. S., & Hill, V. R. (2014). Microbial and chemical contamination during and after flooding in the Ohio River-Kentucky, 2011. Journal of environmental science and health. Part A, Toxic/hazardous substances & environmental engineering, 49(11): 1236–1243.

[17] Sun, R., An, D., Lu, W., Shi, Y., Wang, L., Zhang, C., Zhang, P., Qi, H., & Wang, Q. (2016). Impacts of a flash flood on drinking water quality: case study of areas most affected by the 2012 Beijing flood. Heliyon 2(2): e00071.

[18] McCluskey, J. 2001.Water supply, health and vulnerability in floods. Waterlines. 19(3): 14-17.

[19] Agarwal, A., de los Angeles, M. S., Bhatia, R., Chéret, I., Davila-Poblete, S., Falkenmark, M., Gonzalez-Villarreal, F., Jønch-Clausen, T., Aït Kadi, M., Kindler, J., Rees, J., Roberts, P., Rogers, P., Solanes, M. & Wright, A. (2000). Integrated Water Resources Management. GWP-TAC Background Papers (4). 43 pp.

[20] UNECE – Water and adaptation to climate change

[21] IUCN – Water and climate chance issues brief

The post The SDGs Series (Goal 6): Clean Water and Sanitation for all appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Have you ever asked yourself what does a jaguar or a tree have in common with you?

My short answer would be that we live in the same house called Earth, that our food comes from the same soil, and we all need water every day to live.

Being on this one planet, where everything is connected, should prevent us to live the rest of our lives disconnected from our origins. We cannot just keep on wondering where we are going to travel tomorrow, for example, without caring about the ecosystems or the people that live in that paradisiacal place. We should question ourselves how the actions and choices that we make and our nations governments impact people and ecosystems. Impacts that at the end are part of the global changes we face today, and one of the most challenging: the climate crisis.

So, how does climate change affect humans? The climate crisis encompasses effects of not only natural impacts, but also of societal complexity that include discrimination and oppression in the following levels: racial, gender, class, people with disabilities, generational, and biodiversity. All these oppressed sectors of society should be treated with equity. Equity recognizes that each person has different resources and opportunities, and it seeks to understand and provide what people need based on those differences. Justice without equity would be unfair. The reason why is that fairness accounts for diversity, therefore having awareness of the differences between the people strongly unites justice and equity. Everybody has different needs, realities, unconformities, interests, and all these factors should be listened to make a final fair decision. The participation, recognition between communities, and decision makers are essential in many of the climate justice conceptions.

Race

White men tend to perceive environmental risks as less serious than BAME (Black, Asian, and Multi-ethnic). Result of the so-called “white-male effect” that refers to the privileged position of this demographic group in society; adducing white males’ socio-economic resources, sense of control, worldviews, etc. This privilege makes the oppressed invisible. Thus, the impact of climate change on indigenous communities, for example, has been tremendous as governments do not protect indigenous territories. In Latin America, between 80% and 90% of the environmental defenders that suffer some kind of attack are indigenous, and up to 98 % of aggressions remain unpunished. Indigenous people have been taking care of nature throughout the years, and we should learn from them as well as support their rights in the fight against climate change, its consequences, and injustices.

Gender

Historically, there has been a constant struggle against the exploitation of nature as well as the exploitation of women. This is part of a system led by the patriarchal governments that violate our existence with their decisions. Women and children are the most affected by climate change. In the global south most of the women living in rural areas work in agriculture, the response and capacity of the women to confront these changes depend on the access to information, education and economy.

Although our safe space is in nature, the majority of the people has lost their connection with nature. However, that is not the case of the indigenous women in Brazil. They have been taking care of nature, they work the land, they depend on the rivers for the water, and the soil to produce their food. Unfortunately, such reality is not the same in other places of the world, where they cannot own them because of local laws that specify that only men can be the land owners. Recently, everything has been changing quite rapidly, and nature preservation has not been taken as a priority as it should. As Nahuala Indómita once said “My body, as the land, is not sold, it must be defended”.

Class

Everyone is responsible for climate change, but in many different ways. The rich countries, known as the global north, are the most responsible for this reality due to historical emissions since 1970. Reinforced through violence and repression, the establishment of the Imperial Globality, also responds to the resistant and re-existent exercise of local or regional autonomies. It is worth mentioning a resistance project in Mexico, called “Zapatistas”, as they have been resisting the colonialism and capitalism exercising an autonomous eco-political system.

In the global south, the consequences of the climate crisis are already happening; temperature changes, sea level rise and frequent droughts; just to mention some of the effects. A hard reality where people are forced to leave their homes and even lose their families due to climate migrations.

People with disabilities

One oft-cited estimate suggests 200 million people will be climate refugees by 2050. According to the World Health Organization, 15% of the global population has an intellectual or physical disability, so 30 million of those climate refugees will require different kinds of support. For instance, in a situation of an earthquake, people have to walk fast to evacuate the building; such scenario will be particularly harder for people who have difficulties to walk, to see or to decide by themselves.

Generations

Climate crisis is causing a lot of debts for the next generations. That is why Greta Thunberg created the movement Fridays for future, to visualize how all the actions from the past/present affect and will continue to affect the next generations. Plastic oceans instead of oceans with corals and fishes are the ecosystems that the children are going to have if we continue consuming as we do now.

Biodiversity

More and more pictures and videos are post on social media of polar bears swimming miles just to find a piece of ice where they can rest and then hunt. Or birds dropping dead from the skies because of the toxic substances that remain in the air. Recently, there were more than two forest fires in very important areas for biodiversity, e.g. Australia and the Amazon. It is necessary to connect how the loss of biodiversity affect us directly. If there is no biodiversity, there is no food sovereignty, no home for indigenous people, no more medicines, no more traveling to see the marvelous whales or all the cultural treasures and traditions that come from the nature.

Final thoughts

Every decision that we take daily could affect or benefit nature. Some recommendations are to consume local, reduce your clothing and meat consumption, research which products are you buying and where they come from, reconnect yourself with your roots, talk about climate justice with the people that surround you, question your privilege and use it in benefit of the others, and never as a weapon of oppression.

¡Por la Vida, la Tierra, el Agua, el Cielo y la Mar en la Justicia!
—Tribunal popular de justicia climática de México

References

Clima de cambios: Llegó la hora de la justicia climática. Ante proyectos que sólo buscan replicar las mismas desigualdades de siempre, es hora de apostarle a soluciones para el cambio climático. Extinción, 2021.

Climate Justice Charter. COPAC, 2021.

Equity vs. Equality. The Difference, and Why It Matters. Amy Bergen, 2021.

Exposición Luchas que germinan, un homenaje a ambientalistas asesinados. México, el sexto país más peligroso en el mundo para activistas. Fernando Camacho Servín. https://www.jornada.com.mx/2019/10/27/politica/012n1pol

Género y medio ambiente: entre cuidados y resistencias. Nahuala Indómita, 2020.

Robinson, M., Shine, T. Achieving a climate justice pathway to 1.5 °C. Nature Clim Change 8, 564–569 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0189-7

Soriano Sánchez, M. (2014). Glocalidades re-creativas. Ecología-política de la diferencia desde los caracoles zapatistas. Iberoamércia Social: revista-red de estudios sociales, II, pp. 104-115.

The Intersection of Disability and Climate Change. Gianna Cacciatore, 2021. Harvard University.

Header photo credits: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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