Climate Justice for Latin American Indigenous Peoples

This panel will address pressing issues that Latin American indigenous peoples face in the fight to secure climate justice. Experts and advocates on this panel will address the following climate justice contexts: (1) climate resilience challenges in the face of natural resource extraction projects and efforts to enhance procedural protections for indigenous communities in decision-making processes; (2) forced displacement of indigenous communities from climate change in cases in the Inter-American Human Rights system, and (3) the relationship between carbon markets and indigenous peoples' rights. The session will conclude with a Q&A session with the in-person and online audiences.

This is a hybrid event. Remote attendees will receive a Zoom link at least 24 hours prior to the event. 

Speakers

Randall S. Abate - Moderator

Assistant Dean for Environmental Studies

Randall S. Abate joined GW Law in July 2022 as the Assistant Dean for Environmental Law Studies. He brings 28 years of experience teaching, writing, managing programs, and mentoring students on domestic and international environmental law issues in various contexts.

To read his full bio, click here.

Carla Cardenas

Environmental Lawyer

Carla Cardenas is an environmental lawyer with more than 18 years' experience working in Latin America. She has worked in Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador, Perú, and Bolivia, developing projects and conducting research on REDD+, community monitoring, rights of nature, and climate justice for institutions that include the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Earth Law Center, Fondo Para La Protección del Agua (FONAG) in Ecuador, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), and German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), among others. Carla is part of Forest Trends' team, a non-governmental organization works to conserve forests and other ecosystems through the creation and wide adoption of a broad range of environmental finance, markets and other payment and incentive mechanisms.

She served as the Undersecretary of Natural Heritage for the Ministry of Environment in Ecuador, her country of origin. There she managed the national protected areas, forests, and seven major stewardship programs including "Socio Bosque," "Restauración Forestal," "SNAP," and "REED+ Ecuador." She currently serves on the International Board of the Forest Stewardship Council as a representative of the environmental south chamber.

Carla earned a Master of Law at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California in 2020, a Master's in Management of Natural Resources from the Catholic University of Ecuador in 2023, and a Master's in Bioethics and Law at Barcelona University in 2009. She is a lawyer who graduated from Central University in Ecuador, and has produced several publications about REDD+, forest governance, and territorial rights for indigenous peoples.

Upasana Khatri

Senior Attorney, Center for International Environmental Law

Upasana Khatri is a Senior Attorney with the Climate and Energy Program at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). Upasana's work with CIEL focuses on protecting human rights in the context of the climate crisis by developing and supporting legal and advocacy strategies related to climate litigation and accountability and accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels. Before joining CIEL, Upasana was a Staff Attorney at the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. In that role, she advocated for the safety and wellbeing of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children held in government custody while helping them navigate the complex world of the U.S. immigration system. Prior to that, Upasana worked for several years at EarthRights International, where she helped implement various litigation, advocacy, and policy tools and strategies to support rural and Indigenous communities in advancing their rights and seeking redress for environmental harms and human rights abuses.

Upasana received her JD from American University Washington College of Law and holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Davidson College. She is a member of the New York State Bar.

Alba Gabriela Alencastro

Lawyer

Alba Gabriela Alencastro is a lawyer with a minor in international relations from San Francisco de Quito University. She also holds a master's degree in International Human Rights Law from the Université de Nantes and a master's degree in Territorial Governance and Local Development from the Université Paris-Saclay, France. She has worked for state institutions as an advocate before the Inter-American Human Rights System and the Universal Human Rights System. She led the implementation of the Observatory on Forest and Climate Change and worked as an expert in the fields of environmental governance, human mobility and gender for civil society and academia. Currently, she works as a specialist consultant on human rights and safeguards and participates in the evaluation of projects in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.