An action developed today (26) by the Familias pelo Clima collective on Avenida Paulista, in São Paulo, collected signatures for the approval of two bills of popular initiative – and involving several organizations – related to the climate emergency in Brazil. One of the petitions provides for the inclusion of climate security as a fundamental right established in the Constitution. The second petition provides for the destination of public forests in the Amazon for the protection of indigenous peoples, quilombolas, small extractive producers and conservation units.
“The action is part of the Defend the Future as a Mother campaign. We created a set of actions to try to mobilize and engage mainly mothers and families in the defense of a possible climate future for the next generations”, said Clara Ramos, one of the founders of Families for the Climate, in an interview today with Brazil Agency.
“We are collecting signatures for the Amazônia de Pé project, which is a popular action that needs to collect 1.5 million signatures to allocate public forests in the Amazon to indigenous, quilombola and riverside populations, who have already proven that they are the best defenders of the forest. We are also collecting signatures for the Most Urgent Law in the World, which is an online petition in which the idea is to pressure Congress to make this law pass”, she explained.
People sign a petition for the passage of a bill to include climate security in the Constitution. Photograph – Families for the Climate
The expectation of the movement is that, through affection, people engage in the fight against climate emergencies. “We really believe that, through affection and this urgency in the need to guarantee a possible future for our own children and for those we love, we can start this movement to make a difference and begin to exercise our role as citizens more, pressing , demanding and discovering the tools we have to make the change”, said Clara.
“The idea is that people get in touch with the projects and that they feel motivated to leave here, continuing this engagement proposal. We want to create sparks of change and awareness,” she said. “When a person connects and touches on this need, he will not only be able to change things in his own life, but in the way he approaches his daily life, in how he votes and in how he can be a catalyst for change in the future. environments in which she is inserted, whether in her neighborhood, at her son’s school, in her building, in her family”, he added.
Action collects signatures on Avenida Paulista – Divulgation/Families for the Climate
Recycling
In addition to collecting signatures, the collective also promoted a plogging, or the so-called cata-caca, in which volunteers began to collect the garbage scattered along Avenida Paulista. “The idea is that people bring their gloves and bags and that we can collect recyclable and plastic garbage and then dispose of them properly”, she said.
English teacher Ana Paula Dutra, 29, was one of the people who stopped in front of the São Paulo Museum of Art (Masp), on Avenida Paulista, this morning, to sign the petitions. “I signed because I found the project to have an area destined for the preservation of the Amazon interesting. I always try to participate when I see an issue that I consider relevant”, she told the report. For her, Brazilian schools should also intensify the work of making new generations aware of climate emergencies. “I think that, in schools, we don’t play the role that should be played,” she said.
Doctoral student Fernanda Resende, 37, also took advantage of a walk with her parents along Avenida Paulista to sign the petitions.
“my theme [de doutorado] it is precisely about sustainability. I understand what issues are involved and I know the importance of allocating public forests to the original peoples, who are our indigenous peoples, to the quilombolas, who have been in these areas for many generations, and to the riverside people. This is defending the future,” she said.
“People who are committing crimes take advantage of the absence of legislation to invade land. I know how much this population [indígena, quilombola e ribeirinha] is suffering and it is fair that they have their right enforced”, he added.
For Fernanda, laws like this one that provide for the allocation of public forests to protect these peoples also help residents of other parts of the country. “This is taking care of the future, including those who live in São Paulo, because the more deforestation in the Amazon or in the Atlantic Forest and other Brazilian biomes, the worse the situation becomes: the heavier the rains and then it becomes bad for everyone. We need a policy, with a national scope, that thinks about the climate”, she said.
