Good morning, it's Kasmira. We make a visit today to Geneva’s international quarter to meet with Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa, one of the most respected indigenous leaders in Brazil and a 2019 laureate of the Right to Livelihood Foundation award. Illegal gold mining is destroying the Amazon, as he says in his interview below...

27.10.2021

On our radar

Davi Kopenawa / Hutukara Yanomami Association visiting the Geneva Botanical Gardens 11/2019. Celebration of the 2019 ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ Laureates in Geneva. Photo: Wolfgang Schmidt/Right Livelihood

Indigenous leaders call for protection of the Amazon. Some 20,000 illegal gold miners have invaded Yanomami territory, devastating the Amazon rainforest and sparking violent confrontations between the invaders and the indigenous inhabitants. Shaman leader Davi Kopenawa was in Geneva this week with his son Dário Kopenawa to warn UN officials about the ongoing destruction of the rainforest and call for pressure on the Brazilian government to respect indigenous rights.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Here's what else is happening

Less than 10 per cent of vaccine donations promised to Covax delivered, Gavi CEO Seth Berkley told the World Health Summit in Berlin.
Health Policy Watch (EN)
'An epidemic' of coups, UN chief Antonio Guterres laments, urging Security Council to act.
Reuters (EN)
Trade ministers must pull their weight on climate action, writes Carolyn Deere Birkbeck, Chatham House consulting fellow and senior researcher at the Graduate Institute.
Chatham House (EN)
‘Vague’ net zero promises not enough: planet still on track for catastrophic heating, UN report warns.
UN News (EN)
In Geneva, the kitchen as a tool for integrating refugees. Agora, a multicultural restaurant, will open in the Nations district in Geneva next Spring.
Le Temps (FR)

Fact of the day

In 2020 alone the cost of illegal mining activities in the Yanomami Indigenous Reserve was roughly $20 million in damages related to deforestation, $83m in damages related to the removal of sediment from riverbeds, and $215m in damages related to the extensive impacts of mercury in the ground soil. That's according to calculations by the Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF), a global conservation organisation, which used regional data on deforestation and degradation provided by the nonprofit organization Instituto Socioambiental.

Conservation Strategy Fund (EN)

GS news is a new media project covering the world of international cooperation and development. Don’t hesitate to forward our newsletter!

Have a good day!

Avenue du Bouchet 2
1209 Genève
Suisse