On November 5 and 6 at the auditorium of the University of El Salvador, nearly 500 delegates of Central America from 70 member groups of Friends of the Earth International will share their experiences about how the different communities are being affected by climate change.

The conference called “Climate change, territories and social movements” is organized by Friends of the Earth International through CESTA-Friends of the Earth El Salvador, together with the Movement of Victims and People Affected by Climate Change and Megaprojects (MOVIAC).

The days before the conference have been busy. CESTA’s director, Ricardo Navarro, said that this could be one of the most important events to be held in El Salvador in the recent years. He said the Conference will be prior to the Biennial General Assembly of Friends of the Earth International and a solidarity tour to communities affected by mining and mega-projects.

Jose Acosta of CESTA, said that the Conference is the result of a long process of consultation and participation of the victims themselves, for example in Cabañas, in Bajo Lempa and other regions of El Salvador.
“This has enabled us to outline a strategy that we will try to approve at the conference with all the participants, in order to coordinate our resistance and to build alternatives to climate change and mega projects”, said Acosta.

Meanwhile, the member of Friends of the Earth International’s Secretariat who is already in El Salvador, Loreto de Amunategui, explained at a press conference that the environmental federation is holding its biennial meeting to define strategies for the next period.

The over a hundred delegates that will attend the assembly will also participate in the international conference. Some of them will also participate in the tour around El Salvador and Guatemala in solidarity with the resisting communities.

Marta Zogbi, who is co-coordinator of the tour, said that it will take place from November 13 until 21. She explained that it aims to show the different resistance processes. Nearly 20 activists, communicators and campaigners of FoE International and allied organizations will be part of the delegation.

“In Guatemala we will focus on the action of Canadian mining corporation Goldcorp and Marlin mine, then back in El Salvador we will express our solidarity with the Environmental Committee of Cabañas”, said the activist.