SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR, 5-6 November 2012 - Environmental and social justice activists from around the globe gathered here for two days of passionate presentations calling for solidarity, resistance to transnational corporations and for increased sovereignty for local communities.

The ’Climate change, Territories and Social Movements Conference’ brought together activists and community leaders affected by climate change, with delegates coming not only from Central America, but also as far away as Africa and Asia.

Ricardo Navarro, of host country El Salvador, opened the presentations with a discussion of the global context and local responses. He gave a daunting overview of the effects of climate change, how we got here and the consequences we face in the future if we do not take urgent action.

On the first day discussions focused on the themes of transformation of the existing economic system as a step towards mitigating climate change and rebalancing the injustices of the current global order.

Delegates expressed outrage at the ill affects of the extractive industries, at the dangers posed by privatization of water and energy, and at the shifting of Southern wealth to the global North.

The second day culminated in a march through San Salvador, with hundreds of people from civil society organisations from Latin America and all over the world.

The conference was organised by Friends of the Earth El Salvador / Cesta and The Movement of the Victims and Peoples Affected by Climate Change (MOVIAC), a peoples’ movement which aims to increase the power of communities to defend their territories and to demand climate justice.

Joukje Kolff