Northeast Youth Defend Socio-Environmental and Climate Justice
19 de August de 2025
In a virtual dialogue held on August 8, 2025, CESE—supported by DKA Austria and Brot fur Die Welt—brought together young voices from the Northeast region of Brazil to confront overlapping social and environmental crises. Moderators from diverse backgrounds, including artisanal fisheries (Bahia), indigenous organizations (Northeast, Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo), and urban activism (Ceará), led the conversation. Participants raised pressing concerns around environmental racism, the impacts of climate change on cultural traditions and livelihoods, and the harmful effects of public policies and urban projects—such as the light rail transit in Fortaleza—which have displaced communities and eroded access to natural spaces and communal memory. Highlighting the inequalities faced by young people, one speaker noted how disproportionate heat exposure underscores the absence of even basic amenities like a backyard, revealing how systemic violence is embedded in urban design.
A young indigenous representative emphasized that the climate crisis extends far beyond environmental degradation—it profoundly disrupts cultural and spiritual life. He illustrated this by explaining how rituals like the imbu fruit race, which marks important seasonal and communal transitions, are threatened by ecological upheaval and a loss of ancestral practices.
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