La Via Campesina prepares for COP 16 on Biodiversity as it joins the Peasants’ Summit in Colombia
La Via Campesina (LVC), an international movement that brings together millions of peasants and indigenous peoples, rejects industrial agriculture and defends food sovereignty through agroecology. In its struggle for biodiversity conservation and climate justice, LVC criticizes corporate-driven technological and financial solutions that do not address the root causes of the environmental crisis.
On 29 and 30 August, in the run-up to the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16), to be held in Cali from 21 October to 1 November, a delegation from La Via Campesina will be present at the Peasant Summit in Fusagasugá, Cudinamarca, Colombia.
The summit will address key issues such as biodiversity and the environmental dimension of peasants, our role as allies in conservation, agroecology, food sovereignty and the struggle to protect land, water and biodiversity.
This event is a milestone because it is an unprecedented space for peasants on the road to a COP. It is a crucial opportunity to bring the peasant movement’s agenda of food sovereignty and sustainability to the global negotiating table.
LVC calls for the inclusion of rural and traditional communities in decisions on biodiversity and rejects false ecological solutions that prioritise corporate interests. Climate justice and the protection of traditional knowledge are fundamental pillars of their struggle.