Advocacy and Events at CBD COP16 with global women leaders presenting strategies, solutions, and calls to action for biodiversity protection and climate action

For immediate release – Join the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) during the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16 in Cali, Colombia from October 21 - November 1. WECAN will be advocating with a Frontline and Indigenous Women’s Delegation to demand world governments take bold and transformative action to address the biodiversity crisis. Learn more about the WECAN CBD COP16 delegates and events here: https://www.wecaninternational.org/cbd-cop16

WECAN will present policy interventions, on-the-ground biodiversity protection and climate justice projects, and system change frameworks. Specific topics include Gender-responsive implementation of the GBF in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs); Indigenous rights and sovereignty; addressing the nexus of biodiversity protection and climate action; forest protection and restoration; The Escazu Agreement; and uplifting community-led sustainable solutions for systemic change.

Please see below for a list of the WECAN CBD COP16 delegates and events. If you are interested in contacting any members of the delegation, please email katherine@wecaninternational.org:

• Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, USA

• Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Spokeswoman for Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva (Amazon Women in Defense of the Jungle), and WECAN Coordinator in Ecuador, Ecuador

• Nina Gualinga (Kichwa), Indigenous Rights Defender, Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva, Sarayaku, Ecuador

• Julia Horinek (Ponca Nation), Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) Global North Indigenous Organizer, WECAN Coordinator, USA

• Shirley Krenak (Krenak), Coordinator for the Shirley Djukurnã Krenak Institute, Co-founder of the National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA), Brazil

• Nyg Kuita Kaingang (Kaingang), Co-founder of the National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA), collaborator with Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples Articulation (APIB), Brazil

• Sabine Bouchat, Lead for the Kawsak Sacha-Selva Viviente conservation program, WECAN Ecuador Reforestation Program Lead Monitor, Ecuador

• Andrea Cuji Mancilla (Kichwa), Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva (Amazon Women in Defense of the Jungle), Ecuador

• Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA

You can find full event details for the WECAN formal UN side event and press conferences below. Speaker details can be found on our website here. If you have any questions please reach out to the media contact above.

WECAN EVENTS:

Press Conference– Rights of Nature: A Systemic Solution to Protect Biodiversity

Tuesday, October 22, 11:00-11:30 AM Colombia Time (COT)

The Media Center, Blue Zone, CBD COP16 Cali, Colombia

Press Conference– Indigenous Women from Brazil: Calls for Action to Protect Biodiversity, Indigenous Rights, and Climate

Thursday, October 24, 11:00 - 11:30 AM Colombia Time (COT)

The Media Center, Blue Zone, CBD COP16 Cali, Colombia

Press Conference– Women Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Biodiversity and Climate Crises

Friday, October 25, 11:00 - 11:30 AM Colombia Time (COT)

The Media Center, Blue Zone, CBD COP16 Cali, Colombia

Women’s Hub Pavilion– Women on the Frontlines of the Biodiversity and Climate Crises: Challenges and Solutions

Saturday, October 26, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Colombia Time (COT)

The Women’s Hub Pavilion, Blue Zone, CBD COP16, Colombia