Rolling back social and environmental safeguards in the name of COVID-19
Channel: Land Portal
Date: 2021-02-18

Join Forest Peoples Programme, the Tenure Facility,  Middlesex University, the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic and the Land Portal on Thursday, February 18, 2021 for a webinar on Rolling back social and environmental safeguards in the name of COVID-19. 

Global leaders increasingly recognize that land rights for indigenous and local communities are a prerequisite for achieving national and international goals for forest governance, food security, climate mitigation, economic development and human rights.

In 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the political context in many countries, and some governments used the pandemic as a justification for dismantling the protections gained by Indigenous and Forest Peoples. This has been particularly common in heavily forested countries where there are large indigenous communities.

In partnership with various civil society organizations, Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic of Yale Law School, Middlesex University London, and local researchers have developed five country-specific reports on Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, and Perú. These reports address the following question: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, to what extent are the five most tropically forested countries rolling back social and environmental safeguards and if so, what are, or may be, the negative consequences in terms of land grabs, rights abuse and deforestation in indigenous territories.

This webinar will launch the report and present its findings to a global audience. The 90 minute session will include the report presentation by the leading writer, a panel discussion including representatives from these five countries and a Q&A with the audience. The webinar will be conducted in English and Spanish.

Read more: https://landportal.org/event/2020/12/dismantling-social-environmental-safeguards-name-covid-19