ANTICOP 2024: A Call for Climate Justice from the Global South 

From November 4 to 9, 2024, one week before the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2024 (COP29), the Global Meeting for Climate and Life, known as ANTICOP 2024, took place in Oaxaca, Mexico. This event, organized in the headquarters of the Organizaciones Indias por los Derechos Humanos en Oaxaca (Indian Organizations for Human Rights in Oaxaca – OIDHO), brought together over 250 people from 35 countries across five continents, including various Indigenous communities. 

COP29: A Catastrophic Agreement for Human Rights 

The COP29, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, was referred to as the “COP of finance.” Despite demands from countries in the Global South, who need at least $1.3 trillion annually to address the climate crisis, high-income countries only committed to providing $300 billion, less than a quarter of the minimum required amount. Furthermore, part of this funding would be provided as debt, not as public grants. 

Amnesty International stated that this agreement “rather than moving towards a world where the human rights of all are protected from the harms of climate change, it will perpetuate the ongoing harms stemming from colonialism, and exacerbate the suffering caused by climate change”

As ANTICOP organizers pointed out, “In Baku, over 1,700 lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry enjoyed privileged access while the struggles for land, territory, natural resources, and human rights of Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and peasant communities continued to be ignored, as well as the realities and needs of the peoples and communities facing the most devastating impacts of climate change.” 

ANTICOP: Centering the Voices of Land Defenders

ANTICOP emerged as a response to the historical exclusion of communities in the Global South, such as Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and rural communities, from the official COP conferences. Despite facing threats, intimidation, physical attacks, criminalization, and even murder, these people and groups remain on the frontlines of the fight against climate change

The goal of ANTICOP was not to replace the COP but to create networks among communities defending their territories and movements for climate justice. Four key topics were discussed, all related to the territorial realities of the Global South, with climate change as a cross-cutting issue: mega-extractive projects, forced displacement, the commodification of life (including false climate solutions and the debt crisis), and the global water crisis. 

The Global Meeting for Climate and Life was an autonomous space that, according to participants, “served to articulate their struggles and propose concrete alternatives to strengthen their territories, defend their natural resources, and dignify their ways of life.”   

The Community of El Bosque, Mexico  

People from communities affected by rising sea levels at ANTICOP. The sign in the background reads “The destruction of our territory is the destruction of our culture.” Left to right: Mrs. Guadalupe Cobos (El Bosque, Mexico), Jöel Michel (New Caledonia), and Jacob Nitzler (Samoa). Photo by Iván Martínez. 

Mrs. Guadalupe Cobos, a representative of the community of El Bosque in the state of Tabasco, Mexico, shared at ANTICOP: 

“When you hear about a hurricane, think about El Bosque. Think that my community has suffered. People have lost everything. We are almost without a past, without a present, and with an uncertain future.” 

When you hear about a hurricane, think about El Bosque. Think that my community has suffered. People have lost everything. We are almost without a past, without a present, and with an uncertain future.

Guadalupe Cobos, a representative of the community of El Bosque.

Since 2019, due to constant tidal waves and various extreme weather events, the coast of El Bosque has eroded by more than 200 meters, causing the destruction of homes and community infrastructure

In February 2023, the Tabasco State Congress approved the relocation of the community after a process of advocacy led by the community with the support of organizations like Nuestro Futuro, Greenpeace Mexico, and Conexiones Climáticas. In April 2023, the community began negotiations with government agencies to relocate. 

However, as Mrs. Cobos states, “The government system is slow, and the sea doesn’t wait.” In November 2023, the entire community had to be evacuated due to a storm surge that destroyed most of the remaining houses. After living in temporary shelters, in November 2023, at least 69 people left a temporary shelter after not receiving food or water for an entire day and reporting mistreatment by the staff. The few remaining residents had to leave. 

After a year of delay, in November 2024, the Tabasco government officially recognized the community as “relocated due to climate impact,” and the federal government provided 51 homes for their relocation

Despite this victory, the community reports that many people are still waiting to be surveyed and relocated. Mrs. Cobos commented: “We are moving our territory to a new territory, the city. I don’t know what we’ll do, but we are facing climate change.” This experience illustrates how the communities in the Global South, who have historically contributed the least to climate change, are bearing its worst effects. 

Mrs. Cobos expressed that spaces like ANTICOP are important for raising awareness of her community’s situation. There, she met Jacob Nitzler from Samoa and Jöel Michel from the Kanak people in New Caledonia, with whom she discussed the shared reality of their territories: 

“I found brothers from the Pacific Islands, who are also losing their territory, their islands are sinking. And I feel supported, accompanied, embraced.” 

I found brothers from the Pacific Islands, who are also losing their territory, their islands are sinking. And I feel supported, accompanied, embraced.

Guadalupe Cobos, a representative of the community of El Bosque.

Finally, she said that at ANTICOP, she felt “that El Bosque is not alone. We are all in this together.” 

The Waorani People and the Struggle for Yasuní  

Juan Bay, presidente de la NAWE en el Panel Inaugural de la ANTICOP.
Juan Bay, president of the Nationality of the Waorani People of Ecuador (NAWE), at the Inaugural Panel of ANTICOP. Courtesy of Yoco Reyes. 

The extraction of fossil fuels and the consequent accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere are the primary causes of the climate crisis, reflected in extreme weather events like those suffered by the community of El Bosque. However, states have failed to agree upon and implement a complete, equitable, rapid, and funded fossil fuel phase-out at international summits, including COP29. 

In response to state inaction, Indigenous resistance movements, such as the Waorani Nationality of Ecuador (NAWE), have been crucial in the fight against the climate crisis. NAWE consists of 87 communities spread across three provinces in Ecuador’s Amazon. 

Juan Bay, president of NAWE, shared at ANTICOP: 

“The Waorani people have a 60-year civilization process. However, we have taken such an important step in Yasuní. We, the Waorani, have decided that we want to live healthily, we want clean air, clean water.” 

The Waorani people have a 60-year civilization process. However, we have taken such an important step in Yasuní. We, the Waorani, have decided that we want to live healthily, we want clean air, clean water.

Juan Bay, president of NAWE.

Amnesty International has documented how the Ecuadorian Amazon has become a sacrifice zone for the oil industry. Yasuní, a protected area of 10,200 km², one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, is no exception, as it is threatened by oil extraction. 

A historic campaign led by the Waorani people, in partnership with environmental and climate justice groups in Ecuador, pushed for a referendum that was overwhelmingly supported by Ecuadorian population in August 2023 to protect Yasuní. As a result of this referendum, Ecuador was supposed to dismantle the oil plant in the park (known as “block 43 ITT”) and stop further oil exploration by August 2024. Unfortunately, this has yet to happen. 

Despite this, NAWE has continued its struggle. In August 2024, they organized the “International Summit for Yasuní,” an event that brought together over 300 people from different countries to discuss an Action Plan for Yasuní with concrete measures to ensure the mandate from the referendum is carried out. This plan has already been delivered to Ecuadorian authorities. 

Although their fight and resistance bring negative consequences—Juan Bay has faced death threats and intimidation for his work defending the territory—NAWE demonstrates that there is hope for climate justice, largely driven by the resistance of Indigenous peoples, who protect 80% of global biodiversity

“We don’t necessarily have to travel the world to address the problems in our territory. We need to take action from our homes. That’s what I’ve done, and that’s why I’m persecuted by the government, by the oil company, and I live isolated. But I came here to share and tell you that I am Waorani, I’m not an environmentalist. What we, the Waorani, do is not only for the Waorani; it’s for society and humanity. That’s why we’ve said no more oil; oil must stay in the ground.” 

What we, the Waorani, do is not only for the Waorani; it’s for society and humanity. That’s why we’ve said no more oil; oil must stay in the ground.

Juan Bay, president of NAWE.

What Came Out of ANTICOP: Solidarity in the Struggle for Life, Territories, and Climate Justice 

The struggles of the community of El Bosque and Yasuní were joined by young people from Aruba, who oppose the overexploitation of natural resources by the hotel industry, and the demands of young people from Bonaire, who call for real climate action from the Dutch government. Representatives from the struggles of the Sami people in Scandinavia, the Binnizá or Zapotecs in Mexico (some of whom organized the summit), and the Wayuu in Colombia and Venezuela, who denounce the lack of free, prior, and informed consent in the installation of wind farms in their territories, also joined in, showing how some climate solutions are replicating colonial inequalities. 

The dialogue between struggles during ANTICOP’s working groups was reflected in the final statement, which mentions the decision to create a Global Network for Climate and Life, accompanied by a collective struggle calendar to strengthen local and community struggles and give visibility to their demands before national and international authorities, especially in the lead-up to COP30, which will be held in Belém, Brazil, in 2025. This network seeks to implement true sustainable solutions to the climate crisis and strengthen the territorial struggles of its member peoples. 

Beyond attempting to replace COP, ANTICOP presented itself as a proposal to articulate struggles for human rights and climate justice, particularly in the Global South. In this context, states must ensure that those on the frontlines of human rights defense in the climate emergency can carry out their work fully and safely, without fear of reprisals. Their fight for life, their territories, and for climate justice is a beacon of global hope. 

Encuentro por el Clima y la Vida- ANTICOP Marcha Calenda por el Clima y la Vida, ANTICOP 2024. Cortesía de Yoco Reyes.
Calenda March for Climate and Life, ANTICOP 2024. Courtesy of Yoco Reyes. 

Written by: 
Iván Daniel Martínez, Climate Justice Campaigner in Amnesty International Americas.