Alberto Achito Lubiasa, a Eyasake traditional authority of the Embera Dobida People of Colombia of the Nussi Purru territory states “in our cosmovision whales are our sacred daughters. To use whales for carbon credits and Big Oil’s greenwash is offensive to the Embera Dobida People. Whale offsets would make global warming worse and threaten our future.”
Ilsa Banuvi Caisamo also of the Embera People of the Chocó in Colombia asks “How dare you use my sisters the whales as an excuse to keep destroying the planet? Every year, the humpback whales - our sisters - come to give birth to their calves. According to our Law of Origin, “Embera Wera” became a whale in the Ensenada de Utría. That is why she sacredly returns every year to our homeland to greet us, visit us, and to give birth. We were taught to protect her and to respect her whenever she comes. We deeply reject the use of whales as market mechanisms. Whales are not chickens for you to breed and sell for personal or corporate gain. Climate change will not be solved by using our whales as offsets. Nor will the forests or biodiversity be saved by using them for market mechanisms. [You, Polluters] have to look within and make structural changes in your patterns of consumption and production. You should learn from us, the Embera People, we only take what is necessary... in harmony with what Mother Earth provides. Therefore, I call upon the World Bank, IMF, industrialized nations and countries that destroy the environment to renounce your greed.”
Adrienne Aakaluk Titus (Iñupiaq) of the Indigenous Environmental Network explains Indigenous Peoples’ connectivity with whales and opposition to whale offsets. “As Indigenous Peoples of the Global North and Global South, we are connected through the oceans and the relatives who travel these waters. It is our inherent right to speak for the animals, birds and living and non-living beings, the oceans, rivers and lands to ensure a healthy Mother Earth for generations to come. There is a symbiotic relationship which has allowed us to thrive in our ecosystems. We demand a stop to using our sea and land relatives for carbon and biodiversity market schemes to allow business to continue as usual. We need an Indigenous-led just transition for the world to heal. This is only possible if we stop capitalizing on what is left of the ecosystems that have been maintained by our Peoples since time immemorial with little or no carbon footprint. Our peoples have suffered the brunt of extractive industries, but contribute the least to this carbon emissions crisis causing climate disasters. We say NO! to the expropriation of whales and other animals for the carbon and biodiversity markets. Be better. Do better. Our food security, ways of life and humanity itself depend upon it.”
Watch the video “NO to using our sisters the whales are not carbon offsets!” by Embera Wandra
¡No a la utilización de las ballenas jorobadas para bonos de carbono!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXlU5BSE53Q
