On September 21 the largest climate mobilisation will be taking place in NY and beyond. A delegation of globally diverse grassroots leaders will be in attendance at the NY march to ensure voices from movements and campaigns around the world are heard. They will also emphasise various ongoing struggles which will carry forwards beyond September.
We are excited to introduce to you this group of global climate ambassadors! And Power Shifters will notice some familiar names among the ambassadors.
EFLEDA KEMPIS BAUTISTA from the PHILIPPINES
Efleda Kempis Bautistais currently the Chairperson of the Leyte Rural Assistance Program and the Leyte Center for Development and is very involved in relief and rebuilding efforts post super typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda (which hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013) through the People’s Surge Philippines. She’s a distinguished former teacher and has done extensive work with rural, clan/family and youth communities in the Samar region particularly on conservation, waste management, coastal clean-up, anti-mining and recycling based income-generating-projects.
MARTIN GUILLERMO MULLALLY from Argentina
Martin Guillermo Mullally is a communications expert and a member of Observatorio Petrolero Sur (OPSur) – a research and advocacy organization on the social and environmental impacts of the fossil fuel industry in Argentina. He is also a member of the press team of the Multi-Sectoral Coalition Against Fracking. He works as a producer in the television program Cartago, co-hosts the radio magazine Vorterix Neuquén, and works with the cooperative Cae Babylon.
ISSO NIHMEI from Vanuatu, Pacific Islands
Isso Nihmei is a youth leader who works with the SPC-GIZ on a national Climate Change Adaptation Program –Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Islands Region (CCCPIR), which aims to strengthen the capacities of Pacific counties and regional organizations to cope with the impacts of climate change. Among the areas he focuses on are climate change and agriculture, including new farming techniques, connections with government, and interaction with national and regional climate change initiatives.
VAISHALI PATIL from India
Dr. Vaishali Patil is a leading grassroots activist who has been working in the Konkan region of India’s Maharashtra State for over 20 years on issues ranging from homestead land rights for women to ending coal and mining projects to organizing against the largest proposed nuclear power project in her region. She is the founder of the Ankur Trust; President of the Forum for Demanding the Rights of Indigenous People; Convener of the Forum Against Disastrous Projects in Konkan; and Secretary of Vikas Sahyog Pratisthan –Network of NGO’s in Maharshtra. She is also the founder of the Forum Against Atrocities on Women.
GÖKŞEN ŞAHİN from TURKEY
Gökşen Şahin was among climate activists that founded Turkey’s Global Action Group in 2005, which organized the “Sign Kyoto” campaign to encourage the Turkish Government to finally ratify the Kyoto Protocol. She is the Environmental Policies Coordinator and Climate Policy Officer of TEMA Foundation – The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, and for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats. At Open Radio, the only independent radio channel in Turkey, she has organized several programs on environment and climate change and currently is produces the “Green Wave” radio program there.
FATIMATA NIANG DIOP from Senegal
Dr. Fatimata Niang Diop coordinates UNDESERT, a NGO which works to understand and combat environmental degradation in West Africa. She is an expert in ecology, biodiversity, forest resource management and carbon project planning and development. She has also been a consultant with Wetlands International and IUCN Headquarters on biodiversity assessment in West Africa. Working with young climate activists, she currently heads the national Power Shift group in Senegal as part of Global Power Shift which aims to scale up the climate movement through regional convergences, strategic campaigns, and grassroots mobilisations.
DIANA MACIAGA from Poland
Diana Maciaga works with the Polish NGO Workshop for All Beings (Pracownia na rzecz Wszystkich Istot), which specializes in protection of the wildest treasures of Poland. She has participated in Global Power Shift and Power Shift Central & Eastern Europe and is sharing her experience through campaigns and coordinating a training for local Polish leaders – “Guardians of Climate.” She is currently one of the organizers of the Stop Elektrowni Północ campaign (stop the ‘North Power Plant’) – a new coal-fired facility in her region in Poland.
JUAN PEDRO CHANG from Peru
Cumbre de los Pueblos Frente al Cambio Climatico