The fires destroying the Amazon illustrate a global political system increasing moving towards environmental devastation and the need for urgent action based on the principles of the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development.
The Amazon forests that have acted as a carbon sink and regulator for the environment are being wrecked and lost forever. The fires further accelerate climate warming as the destroyed forests release vast stores of carbon back into the atmosphere; the burnt soil, stripped of essential nutrients for regrowth, critically limits future climate stabilization as does the incineration of the ground-dwelling animals and birds that play a vital role in maintaining life-giving ecosystems.
IFSW joins the worldwide voices which highlight that the rapid escalation fires in the Amazon are linked with the Brazilin government’s removal of ecological protection regulations to make way for farming and mining activities. We also observe that the governments that allow the importation of extracted minerals and products farmed on cleared rain forests are also responsible for the devastation of natural climate regulating systems.
The Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development integrates social and economic development with climate justice, dignity, mutual rights and respect for all peoples and the environment. As social practitioners working in communities in all countries, we know that successful solutions are fully dependent on the active transformation of structures that perpetuate hate, environmental destruction and inequality to systems that promote inter-relationships joint responsibility, co-existence and shared visions for an inclusive sustainable future.
Social workers along with indigenous representatives, community members, environmental groups and human rights activities and nation/states committed to climate justice from throughout the world call for ground-up as well as intergovernmental global solidarity in climate justice and sustainable future. For an absolute and immediate end to the destruction of natural forests, to recognizing the rights of people, environments and ecology systems and to maximize every effort to protect the future.
Issued by
Rory Truell
IFSW Secretary-General
&
Silvana Martinez
IFSW President