The Xokleng people of Santa Catarina state, after years of persecution, evictions and legal battles, have finally seen the rights to their ancestral lands endorsed by the state, with wide implications for other Indigenous group

Introducing Southern Frontlines – news on the climate crisis from Latin America and the Caribbean

“We are not defenders of nature; we are nature defending itself.” These words from Yoko Kopacã, the 72-year-old leader of the Indigenous communities settling the Ibirama-Laklãnõ region in Santa Catarina, in southern Brazil, sum up the longstanding hope for justice in their struggle for land. For more than 100 years, the Xokleng people have waited for the Brazilian state to recognise their rights.

On 21 September they prevailed – and their victory in the federal supreme court will reshape the way the state approaches Indigenous land rights in Brazil.

Yoko Kopacã, one of the leading figures in the struggle of the Xokleng people to reclaim their land

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This new Guardian series will focus on climate justice in regions acutely affected by the global emergency. Andrei Netto, the series editor, explains why it is so important now

‘We defended our right to the land’: Brazil’s Indigenous people hail supreme court victory

Latin America and the Caribbean are witnessing devastating effects of climate change – from the degradation of the Amazon and rampant biodiversity loss to forest fires, drought, glacial melt and ever more violent hurricanes.

The true impact of this crisis must be understood within the context of corporate land grabs and deforestation, legal and illegal mining and logging, corruption and state capture that have long plagued the region and accelerated environmental damage.

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UK law firm Leigh Day says money given to 77 workers for murders and rapes ‘sidesteps’ multinational’s responsibility over attack

Unilever is to make payments to 77 tea pickers who worked on one of its plantations in Kenya that was targeted during post-election violence in 2007.

The UK law firm Leigh Day, representing the workers, said the London-based consumer goods multinational had agreed to make voluntary, or ex-gratia, payments to former workers at its subsidiary Unilever Tea Kenya, who were attacked by armed assailants at its plantation in Kericho.

Continue reading…Global development | The Guardian

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