On this Earth Day, we celebrate the energy of our Mother Earth, la Pachamama, which sustains us individually and collectively, each and every day. We offer our gratitude to the brave guardians of the forests and the changemakers working to protect our planet for generations to come.
Today, we are incredibly grateful to our delegates and partners – the Governors, Secretaries, and civil servants of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force) who, every day, are doing the hard work of protecting nature and promoting sustainable livelihoods around the world.
We are a strong, tightly-knit, global family – and our network is robust. Our delegates bring their political power and practical solutions to bear on the complex challenges climate change presents. We are seeing the impact of our GCF network on a local level in states and provinces worldwide.
Eduardo Taveira, Secretary of Environment from Amazonas and 2021 GCFTF Chair, shared his perspective about the role of the GCF Task Force in a post-pandemic world:
“With old problems still prevalent and far from being resolved, cooperation and networking must be the new standard in local, regional, and international relations. The demand for mechanisms capable of promoting social justice will be as urgent as searching for sustainable development solutions. With the gap between the poor and the rich that emerged during the pandemic, those who insist on the old models of centralized decision-making – often the result of the remnants of an imperialist view of global geopolitics – will fail miserably in the search for solutions to each problem.
Leaders do not need to choose between either the conservation of natural resources in their territory or guaranteeing that the most fundamental rights will be available to everyone everywhere. This is a politically potent but false dichotomy. The GCF Task Force offers balance, and creates space so that subnational states and regions can articulate their unique problems and also solutions that work toward social and climate justice. Earth Day offers us the chance to reflect on the work ahead and keep us all engaged, until no one is left behind.”
On this Earth Day, we celebrate our beautiful, life-giving planet and the people working to protect it.