On December 5, WECAN hosted our formal UN Side Event at COP28, “Women Implementing Climate Justice Solutions to Mitigate and Adapt to the Climate Crisis.” During the side event,

On December 5, WECAN hosted our formal UN Side Event at COP28, “Women Implementing Climate Justice Solutions to Mitigate and Adapt to the Climate Crisis.” During the side event, grassroots, Indigenous and frontline women, and representatives of global organizations presented climate justice strategies and solutions, including forest and biodiversity protection, Indigenous rights, agro-ecology, renewable energy and a Just Transition, fossil fuel phase out and divestment, and protection of women land defenders.

Speakers included: Lucy Mulenkei (Maasai), Executive Director, Indigenous Information Network, Kenya; Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director, Indigenous Climate Action, Canada; Braulina Baniwa (Baniwa), Executive Director, National Articulation of Indigenous Women Ancestrality Warriors (ANMIGA), Brazil; Taily Terena (Terena Nation), Indigenous rights activist, WECAN Coordinator in Brazil, Brazil; Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member, Turtle Island, USA; Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA

During the event we also had a special appearance by Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, who shared a powerful testimony to the leadership of women in Brazil and globally. We are honored to have worked with Minister Guajajara for the past several years, and to see her continue her advocacy efforts in her newly appointed position.

During the convergence, we brought together global women leaders in all their diversity to share the many ways they are working and strategizing to build the solutions needed for an equitable and

During the convergence, we brought together global women leaders in all their diversity to share the many ways they are working and strategizing to build the solutions needed for an equitable and Just Transition— including food sovereignty, gender responsive climate policies, regenerative economics, forest protection, Indigenous rights, rights of nature, demilitarism, phasing out fossil fuels, and much more.

Thank you to the many amazing speakers: President Whitney Gravelle (Bay Mills Indian Community), President and Executive Council Bay Mills Indian Community, Turtle Island/USA; Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Convenor and International Spokesperson for Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP), Philippines; Neema Namadamu, Founder and Executive Director of Hero Women Rising, and WECAN Coordinator in the DR Congo; Tzeporah Berman, Chair, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, Canada; Ruth Nyambura, African Ecofeminist Collective, Kenya; Dr. Crystal A Cavalier, Ed.D, MPA (Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation), Co-Founder, 7 Directions of Service, Turtle Island, USA; Dipti Bhatnagar, World Commission on Fossil Fuel Phase Out, Mozambique; Dr. Tammy Greer (Houma Nation), Associate Professor and Director, Center for American Indian Research and Studies (CAIRS) at Southern Mississippi, and WECAN OHIH Program Leader, Mississippi, Turtle Island/USA; and Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA

On November 14, WECAN organized a COP29 press conference with esteemed speakers from Brazil to share calls to action and advocacy efforts to protect Indigenous rights, forests, water, communities,

On November 14, WECAN organized a COP29 press conference with esteemed speakers from Brazil to share calls to action and advocacy efforts to protect Indigenous rights, forests, water, communities, and the global climate on the path to COP30.

With COP30 slated to be held in Belém, Brazil it is vital to hear from the Indigenous women who are mobilizing to protect Indigenous rights and biodiversity in the Amazon and connected biomes.

Speakers included: Puyr Tembé, First Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon, and co-founder of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA), Brazil; Concita Sõpré, Co-founder, National Association of Indigenous Women's Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA), and President of the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Pará (FEPIPA), Brazilian Amazon; Lucimara Patté, Co-founder of the National Association of Indigenous Women's Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA), from the Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil; with moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), United States.

On November 16, WECAN hosted a COP29 Press Conference articulating a new legal framework and economy based on living in balance with Earth’s natural systems. Presenters discussed the Rights

On November 16, WECAN hosted a COP29 Press Conference articulating a new legal framework and economy based on living in balance with Earth’s natural systems. Presenters discussed the Rights of Nature movement, its successes, and how it can offer a systemic framework for defending and protecting biodiversity, communities, and the climate.

Speakers included: Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, Turtle Island/USA; Nnimmo Bassey, Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nigeria; Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN); and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA.

WECAN presented “A Global Initiative for a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature,” which outlines a strategy for national and subnational governments to have a mechanism for countries to adopt a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature. To learn about this vital new initiative please see our website here: https://www.wecaninternational.org/ron-declaration