December 17, 2014
Representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered in Lima, Peru at the beginning of December for the final round of climate negotiations before the Paris Climate Summit in 2015.
While some supporters applauded the negotiations as the first time all nations have agreed to reduce carbon emissions, the general consensus suggests that Lima was yet another missed opportunity for meaningful action to be taken on addressing climate change.
A report from Democracy Now said, “The countries most dissatisfied with the outcome in Lima were those who are poor and already struggling to rebuild from the impacts of climate change.”
2014 Goldman Prize winner Ruth Buendia, who was in attendance reflected that view, saying “We have barely been able to take part in the debates. It wasn’t for us and we have no hope that anything positive will come out of it for indigenous peoples.”
Though she did go on to say she was happy to able to “voice the demands and needs of indigenous communities.”
Buendia was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2014 for overcoming a history of traumatic violence and uniting the Asháninka people in a powerful campaign against large-scale dams that would have once again uprooted indigenous communities still recovering from Peru’s civil war.
