Live on the free cspan radio app. Earlier today, Jane Fonda Lily Tomlin and environmental activists spoke at the u. S. Capitol on Climate Change. As part of weekly demonstrations, occurring through thed in of january called fire drill fridays. After remarks, the speakers marched to the Capitol Steps in which several people, including lily tomlin, were arrested during the protests. [applause] oh, im so happy to see everybody. Thank you for being here, two days after christmas oh my gosh. Did you all have a good holiday . Appreciate your coming here today. So i want to how many of you today live in d. C. . Raise your hands. Okay. I want to acknowledge for those who level in d. C. The unfairness of your lack of voting representation in congress. And to thank the Environmental Community that supports ending your Voter Suppression by supporting d. C. Becoming the 51st state. We know why they dont want you to become a state. We dont even need to say it right . Thank you, clean water Action League of conservation voters, sierra club, friends fortunate earth, greenpeace and food and water watch for supporting d. C. Statehood. Together, we can fix these things by golly. Today, were talking about forests. We save forests for christmas. You know, christmas atrees. Forests are a key ally, maybe even the key ally in the fight against the Climate Crisis. But forests need us to be their allies. We cannot solve the Climate Crisis without protecting forests. Forests are climate stabilizing systems. They regulate ecosystems, provide habitat and protect biodiversity. They play an integral part in carbon cycles. In fact, leading scientists have affirmed that protecting forests and restoring forests are just as important as ending fossil fuel use. [applause] you see when forests are healthy, they absorb the carbon from the atmosphere, but when theyre burned it releases co2 back into the atmosphere and the forests are being burned and cleared to make way for destructive agricultural practices and to grow biofuels and that also releases co2 and Climate Change is accelerated and our experts are going to explain this in more detail, but its this simple, to maximize the climate benefit of forests we have to keep more forest landscapes intact, manage forests sustainably and restore those that weve lost. And we must protect the rights of Indigenous People and local traditional communities who live in and depend on forests. There are many, many studies that show that forests are the healthiest when the rights of Indigenous People and local communities are honored and respected. And instead, those communities are too often threatened. In brazil between november and december of this year, seven Indigenous Leaders have been murdered as they seek to protect forests that we all need to survive. Not only the amazon is at risk, but the entire where there is also persecution of the indians. So to start us off today, were going to have hannah heineken. [applause] hannah works at rainnorthwest Action Network to hold banks and investors accountable for their impacts on rain forests, the climate and human rights. Hannah has years of experience working on forest risk supply chains. And the Financial Sector and her particular expertise is in the japanese market. Please welcome hannah heineken. Hi, everyone, how are you doing today . So i just wanted to start with a quote from greta, some of you saw the speech yesterday, but i think its important to remind ourselves that our house is on fire, right . My home state of california this year 250,000 acres burned. Fortunately, my house didnt burn, but a lot of people suffered and thats just a small segment of what happened this year. Right . In the amazon, indonesia congo australia. The arctic, right . Millions of acres have burned. Billions of tons of co2 have been released. This is unprecedented. Why is this happening . Why is our planet being destroyed like this . It all comes down to corporate greed. So the earth is sending us an important message. Its sending us a message that we need to change the way we exist on this planet. Too Many Companies right now are unwilling to change their business as usual. Banks and investors continue to pour money, billions of dollars into fossil fuels and tropical deforestation, even when they know it is destroying the planet, and its harming people. Companies are buying products not knowing the actual or neglecting the actual impact it is having on forests on biodiversity and people. The brands and banks are willing to be complicit because its profitable and theyre willing to violate indigenous rights even when its clear as jane said that it is one of the most effective ways to stop deforestation because they are amazing stewards of the forest and the land. So this is unacceptable. This is immoral. This is unsustainable. It is ruining the only home we have. And we need to stand up and reject the status quo. So i grew up in japan. Thats why one of my specialties is the japanese market and theres actually a practice there called forced forest bathing . And it comes from the recognition that forests are amazing healers right . They heal the human body, but then we all know theyre also the habitat for especially rain forests are the habitats of the majority of land based biodiversity. Theyre the homes of all these Indigenous People. Not only that they absorb immense amounts of carbon, they regulate rainfall, they produce oxygen. I also want to point out theyre incredibly important to the planet and to the carbon storage, but paper and palm oil that comes from indonesia, its most likely linked to peatland destruction. Companies are destroying these forests, releasing a lot of carbon into the atmosphere and meanwhile destroying one of the most effective ways we have to store the carbon, right . This is nonsensical. So we need to stand up against these corporations. We need to support our indigenous friends and the local communities that are on the front lines defense these companies. We need to keep the forests standing. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground and we need to uphold human rights. Especially the rights of the local and indigenous communities that are fighting this fight to save the forests. And just one thing on the bank youll hear more about this later. Theyre bad on forests too right . So a lot of these banks like j. P. Morgan chase and i dont know how many of you are from california, union banks union bank is owned by a japanese company. Theyre one of the worst financeers of palm oil and paper. Look at what your bank is doing and you can move your money and we can change the status quo. Lets do this together. The Divestment Movement has been unbelievably successful. Already weve taken 11 trillion out of banks that are underwriting false fuel expansion. So if we keep doing that, it can really we effective. Our next speaker is a senior forest and land comparison at friends of the earth united states. He advocates for investors and Financial Institutions to stop financing Climate Chaos through deforestation, land grabbing and human rights abuses. He works towards the recognition of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and land rights. Please welcome. Thank you so much. I want to talk a little bit about why we are here today. We are here today because we are facing a crisis. Deforestation after false fuel emissions is the second largest contributor to the Greenhouse Gases responsible for the Climate Crisis. We know what we must do. We must phase out oil, gas and coal and make fossil fuels industries of the past, but we also must protect the worlds forests. They go hand in hand. If we do not do one, we will not succeed. If we do not do both we will not succeed in mitigating the worst effects of the Climate Crisis and so when we look at protecting the worlds forests weve just heard how they sequester billions of tons of carbon for the planet. But they are also home to indigenous and local communities and also countless species of wildlife. The reality is the Climate Crisis is actually one of intersecting and overlapping crises that were facing today. Deforestation is not only fueling Climate Crisis; it is actually fueling unprecedented species extinction and gross human rights abuses around the world. The worlds forests are at the epicenter of these intersecting and overlamming crises. When we look at what are the main drivers of deforestation in the world . It is the development of industrial agricultural commodities. That is commodities like palm oil, pulp and paper soy, and cattle. These four commodities alone are responsible for 80 of deforestation around the world. For the tens of thousands of consumer goods you and i and all of us buy and at the front lines of industrial Agricultural Commodity expansion to grow these commodities to produce them requires hundreds of thousands of hectors of land, of forests that are clear and cut down and that are home to millions of people and countless species. At the fronted lines of this industrial Agricultural Production are local often indigenous communities that are right now facing a global epidemic of violence and murder. Just last year in 2018, three land and environmental defenders were murdered every single week for defending their traditional landsen. Imagine that. Three People Killed every single week for defending what is theirs, for defending their way of life, their family and their future. And agri business was one of the most deadliest sectors for communities around the world. I think we can best picture this and we have seen this with the crisis that has been going on in the amazon. This past year we have seen the amazon rainforest burn at the hands of brazils regime. We have seen the amazon known as the lungs of the earth set fire for these very commodities, for the soy sector and cattle sector. Hundreds of thousands of hectacres burned to the ground to produce these products. And this problem is not limited to south america. We see the destruction of the worlds forest just as we heard from indonesia to liberia to brazil. So who is funding this . Who is enabling this to hip . These are the very banks and investors we heard about. They are not only financing rain forest destruction. It is the same banks and investors that are also financing the oil, coal and gas industries. We were just out here a couple of weeks ago, many of us here, we were with auntie jane, and shut down d. C. And we took this message to black rock and matter of banks and investors right here in washington d. C. And i want to talk about black rock for a second. Black rock is the largest wall street investor, the largest investor on the planet. Now, we know wall street has already wrecked our economy. We see day in and day out how wall street is corrupting our democracy by funneling dirty money into our elections and now, we are seeing clearly, crystal clearly how wall street is fueling climate disaster. Now, black rock, like i said is the largest financier on the planet, the largest investor. They are the largest investor in Oil Pipelines the largest investor in gas power plants and the largest investor in coal mines, but if that wasnt bad enough of theyre not only the largest investor in fossil fuels, they are the largest investor in rain forest destruction on the planet. They are literally fueling and financing Climate Crisis and i want to point out a little thing about black rocks hypocrisy because they say theyre a socially responsible investor, but the reality is this is straight hypocrisy. They are pumping all of our money into destroying our planet. And so when we think about black rock, i mean, you can see this hypocrisy there, the biggest name in this country that youve never heard of thats fueling climate as far as. If you look at their voting record when it comes to share holder resolutions, on climate they vote with management 90 of the time. They only support 10 of shareholder regulations. When it comes to human rights its even worse. They voted last year for 0 of human rights resolutions. And so we know we are here today, we have to hold our elected officials automobile. We also have to hold the Financial Sector accountable for protecting our planet and doing the right thing. [applause] so i want to close on a personal note. We are all here first in solidarity on the front lines of this Global Expansion of Agricultural Commodity who are resisting day in and day out the takeover of their land. We are in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the midwest who are fighting the expansion of pipelines and we stand here with one another, but when i think about the future, you know, this spring i will be welcoming my first child into this world and i think that makes that a little more urgent. When i think about the future i want her to grow up in the future for her to have. It should be one where everyone is treated with dignity and we have a safe and livable planet. Thank you so much. [applause] were really lucky to have the next speaker, rolando, a renewable Natural Resources engineer. With a specialty in forestry. He has extensive experience in the peruvian amazon promoting the legal trade of forest products. He has more than 15 Years Experience working with the government the private sector, and environmental organizations managing Natural ResourcesPublic Policies and Indigenous Community participation through the responsible management of forests. Before joining the center for International Environmental law he served as the executive president of the agency for the supervision of Forest Resources and wildlife acin in peru. For his audacity of challenging the network of illegal timber mafias, he and his family have been the target of threats and retaliation. In 2016, rolando was dismissed from his position and has had to seek exile in the united states. Now, rolando is continuing his work, protecting perus amazonian forest from his new base in washington, d. C. As a fellow at ciel. Please welcome rolando navarro. Hi. Good morning. [speaking foreign language] translator thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to express my voice today. [speaking foreign language] [speaking spanish] the starting point to fulfill our needs is the forest. It began here and exists here to this day. Forests are the largest reserve of food, the active elements to cure diseases worldwide and the best ail filter on the planet, which also serves to produce the highest quality drinking water. [speaking spanish] translator for all of this time and energy and money has been spent per decades on international and corporate commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development of forests throughout the world. Nevertheless, in practice we see how millions of hectors of forest are lost every minute on the planet due to unsustainable practices that allow the fires illegal logging trafficking and selling of illegal tim beber from the essential forests as we have witnessed in the amazon. [speaking spanish] translator we know scientists have given the alert that if we stay on this path we will be at a point of no return and the destruction of the plan and the disappearance of forests as a result of human activity and the impacts of Climate Change. [speaking spanish] translator this same alert has been given by environmental defenders in south america from peru colombia, chile, brazil in Central America from guatemala and nicaragua, but also from africa asia and europe. There are women and men human rights defenders who will have died fighting for this cause who die every day because they have raised their voices in defense of our northwests. Forests. [speaking spanish] for this reason rolando wants to call on everyone who is an agent of change to achieve the transformation that a great part of the worlds population is crying for, to face Climate Change head on. [speaking spanish] rolando calls on you to join this great movement, primarily in defense of those who live in regions that are most affected as a consequence of illogical and illegal activities in our forests. [applause] [speaking spanish] translator let us join voice defenders all over the world in this fight in defense of our planet. [applause] thank you, rolando. We all wish you much safety and health and may you be reunited with your family. Thank you. [applause] and next i want to introduce a Senior Campaign strategist for greenpeace usa, supporting the organizations priority campaigns to stop Climate Change, save our oceans, protect democracy and end deforestation. As the organizations former forest director, he has more than 20 Years Experience working on campaigns to save our forests. From tree sitins, old growth forests of the pacific northwest, to the halls of the United Nations rolf has contributed to awardwinning campaigns to build solutions to deforestation inned indonesia brazilian amazon the congo basin and the canadian boreal forest. Please welcome rolf. [applause] thanks to all of you for coming out on a dreary day just a few days after the holidays here. I think i know why youre here because youve heard the alar