Greenpeace crowdfunds Financial Times ad to pressure Siemens into meeting Amazon indigenous representatives
Greenpeace has funded an ad in the Financial Times in a bid to pressure Siemens into talking with indigenous Amazon peoples before building a hydropower dam in the rainforest.
Greenpeace UK
The organisation crowdfunded the ad from 3,600 donors in just over a week, to pressure the German-based company into meeting with Munduruku spokespeople, as it looks set to continue its engineering involvement in the project.
Munduruku general chief Arnaldo Kaba Munduruku and senior advisor Ademir Kab, have travelled all the way from the Tapajos Valley to Siemen’s Surrey headquarters for a meeting on Thursday 11 August.
The group argues that the dam would displace the Munduruku people and irreparably damage the jungle ecosystem. Following the ad, Siemens has reportedly agreed to host the Munduruku representatives, opening up a dialogue that Greenpeace claims otherwise didn’t exist.
A Greenpeace spokesperson told The Drum: “Our supporters are very passionate about protecting the Amazon rainforest and they saw this as a great opportunity to put pressure on Siemens UK to agree to a meeting to discuss the issue (they had ignored Greenpeace UK's previous requests). And it seems to have worked.”
UK celebrities including Paul McCartney, Mark Rylance, Emma Thompson, and Michael Palin are among those in opposition to the dams, with four of the five still planned to cross the Tapajos River.
BREAKING: 3500 funded an advert to publicly invite @Siemens to meet the Munduruku in the @FT #savetheamazon pic.twitter.com/fWlczvmEio
— Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) August 10, 2016
The Drum has reached out to Siemens for comment.