Cultural Survival and Crescendo International’s First Convening on Climate Change Impacts and Risks in Bogota, Colombia

When recounting strategies to combat climate change risks in Indigenous communities across Abya Yala, Benilda Tumiña, a representative of Asociación Jardín Botánico las Delicias de Colombia turned to me and stated, “We have a saying in the Cauca region of Colombia: We will continue fighting as long as the sun does not go out.” These words encapsulated the desires and fruitful discussions that would emerge throughout Cultural Survival and Crescendo International’s “First Convening on Climate Change Impacts and Risks” held in Bogota, Colombia. During the convening, 35 participants, all representing 17 distinct Indigenous alternative radios or land defense organizations from Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, and Guatemala gathered in Bogota for a three-day plenary on strategizing to build climate change mitigation efforts across Abya Yala’s geographies. The importance of frontline communities and alternative radios all under the same roof attended to the most necessary topics for climate change mitigation: Early Warning Systems, Just Transition, Reforestation, among others.

I attended the conference as a collaborator on the Comisariado de Bienes Comunales de San Mateo Etlatongo (Oaxaca, Mexico)’s Keepers of the Earth Fund project: “Borders for the Restoration of our Landscape and Territory.” The Indigenous Mixteco Municipality of San Mateo Etlatongo’s governmental branch, Comisariado de Bienes Comunales, is the communal resource management department that deals with reforestation, soil restoration, and communal water management across the municipality. Our presence at this conference, as winners of a Cultural Survival Keepers of the Earth Fund grant, made our community key witnesses capable of describing the firsthand climate change impacts we witnessed and experienced in Mexico. The participation of our communal resource management president, Federico Avendaño Gonzalez and the commissioner of oversight, of the same governmental branch, Anastacio Rojas, was important to have amongst the voices of other organizations. Whilst opening the convening with all participants sharing their gravest concerns regarding Climate Change, Federico stated, “We must move away from worry, and move towards action.”