As COP26 has just ended, focus on one of the personalities who marked the summit: Alice Pataxó, an indigenous leader and climate activist. By her presence, the young activist wanted to make the voice of the natives heard. “I am part, with other indigenous people, of a delegation representing the peoples of Brazil, we are here to talk, to tell a large part of our history, what happened politically in our country and to ask international aid for the environment in Brazil. Save the Amazon rainforest and our ecosystems“, she argued.
The people of Alice come from the far south of Bahia: “We are on the front line in the face of colonization and we are already feeling the impact of the climate on our region.“, worries the activist. She points in particular to the advance of the level of the sea, which has already destroyed houses or even modified the traditional diet of the people.”These are very serious risks when we live in a community which, for many years, for centuries, has a custom, traditions“, explains Alice. She also criticizes forest fires, which are more and more present, as well as the advance of illegal deforestation.”For us, this is a very big concern because our territory must be protected.“, insists the young activist.
If Alice Pataxó wanted to sound the alarm and highlight the many problems inherent in her territory and in global warming, she also wished to propose concrete solutions.
In his will, the representative of the Jiboiana Association wishes to see better access for her people to the issue of climate education. “I speak for myself because when I was younger I didn’t know what was going on here. “Alice also met the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo”to discuss the school for the climate in other places, to prepare us to better participate in international relations and to bring indigenous peoples together in these events. “
Today, Alice continues to speak out loud and clear about her concerns, especially via social networks. “I started talking there about the things that worried me a lot about the struggle of my people“, she confides.