At the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, we – Global Afro-Descendants (GAD) – are confronting interconnected systems of oppression and fighting for REAL solutions to the climate and ecological crises

SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA

For the first time in history, Afro-Descendant peoples have been formally recognized and included as an official delegation within a global climate process.

Participating alongside other sectors of civil society as an invited constituency group by the host governments, the GAD engaged in a series of collaborative dialogues to identify key barriers, articulate solutions, and advance pathways toward a just transition away from fossil fuels. Co-stewarded by The Chisholm Legacy Project, Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), and Terra40, the GAD delegation included 11 organizations representing seven countries (but not limited to): Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Canada, and the United States. 57 Afro-Descendants organizations registered to participate in this historic conference, and through a collective process, we arrived at 11 delegate representatives. For Afrodescendants, this process builds from ongoing efforts such as the International Afro-Descendant Coalition for Land, Territories, Climate Change and Biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean (CITAFRO) and the Global Afro-Descendants and Climate Justice Policy Platform (GADCJC). Together, in this conference process and space, we developed key recommendations grounded in lived experience, ancestral knowledge, and political analyses rooted in our global liberation.

While this moment marks a critical milestone in global climate justice efforts, it was also marred by serious contradictions.

Read the full statement posted on the BAP website.