
Climate Compassion
CLIMATE ACTION
Salon: Achieving Environmental Justice in Latin America
Note new date for salon: Wednesday June 8th!
Achieving Environmental Justice in Latin America

Monti Aguirre

Anna Cederstav
In the midst of the climate crisis, it’s inspiring to hear about the achievements and successes of people working to secure human rights and environmental justice for those on the frontlines.
Join us for an evening with the leaders of two organizations doing just that in Latin America: Anna Cederstav and Monti Aguirre.
Based out of the environmental law firm Earthjustice in San Francisco, Anna co-leads the Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), which uses the law to protect the environment and communities throughout Latin America. Monti works with International Rivers, protecting rivers and the rights of communities who depend on them.
We’ll learn how these two environmental justice advocates helped transition communities away from exploitative mining, halt destructive dam projects and much more. We’ll watch clips from an extraordinary film Monti co-produced: Amazonia: Voices from the Rainforest that includes interviews with indigenous people from grassroots groups defending their lives and their land in the Amazon.
Both organizations are exemplars of collaboration between the US and Latin America, with leadership centered in Latin America.
Bring your questions, open heart and mind, and journey with us to explore effective action for human rights and the rights of nature.


Monti Aguirre works to secure the rights of communities in Patagonia, the Andes, and the Amazon as Latin America Program Coordinator for International Rivers. An anthropologist and environmental educator, she has been a tireless supporter of people displaced and massacred for opposing the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala, who, after a decade-long struggle, recently won millions in reparations. She is currently working with indigenous peoples in Ecuador and Peru, and grassroots groups in Colombia, whose communities and rivers are threatened by mega-dams and seeking permanent legal protection for their rivers. She is also co-producer of Amazonia: Voices From the Rainforest. Prior to joining International Rivers, Ms. Aguirre worked with the Environmental Action Coalition and El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice in NYC.
Anna Cederstav is one of the two AIDA’s Co-Executive Directors. Having worked for AIDA since 1997, she is responsible for program and organizational development. Anna has significant expertise in the environmental impacts of mining and other extractive activities, as well as marine resource management. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.S. from Yale University. Anna is based in San Francisco, California, where she also manages the Latin America work of the Earthjustice International Program.
Hosts:


Image by International Rivers
Elizabeth Ferguson, Ph.D.
Elizabeth is a facilitator and educator in the practices of resilience and wellbeing. Combining the wisdom of psychology, contemplative science, internal arts and neuroscience, she offers an approach to climate activism that weaves self-compassion, social justice, and community building.
Jeremy Lent, Liology Institute
Jeremy is the author of the Patterns of Meaning blog and the novel Requiem of the Human Soul, and the forthcoming The Patterning Instinct: A History of Humanity's Search for Meaning. He founded the Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering a worldview that will enable humanity to thrive sustainably on this planet.