On Wednesday, September 29th, Amazon Aid Foundation will hold the third Cleaner Gold Network meeting, beginning at 8 AM in San Francisco / 11 AM in New York / Noon in Sao Paulo / 16:00 in London. The summit brings together stakeholders from around the world to address issues related to artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Amazon.
What is the Cleaner Gold Network?
The Cleaner Gold Network, which held its first meeting in March 2021, was founded to protect the rainforest by creating cleaner gold and a more responsible supply chain from the ground to the consumer. The Network is an alliance of consumers, scientists, artists, educators, indigenous communities, NGOs, and companies from the gold sector, engaging in a multi-initiative approach to raise awareness and promote solutions for illicit and unregulated gold mining in the Amazon.
Held on a quarterly basis, the Cleaner Gold Network meetings give participants a uniquely diverse window into gold mining in the Amazon. Past panelists have included a photographer, an international criminal analyst, an expert on Brazilian indigenous groups, and many others.
What’s on the agenda?
The Sept 29th event is a 90-minute exchange of ideas in three super-charged conversations focused on the intersection of science and policy, vital work being done to protect human rights, and the role of artists to connect to the hearts and minds of the consumer.
Sarah duPont, Amazon Aid Founder and President, will moderate the first panel featuring renowned Amazon experts Thomas Lovejoy and Marcelo Furtado. Both leading figures of Amazon conservation, Lovejoy is a Senior Fellow at the United Nations and Furtado a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University. In this panel, they discuss the role of policy to control illicitly sourced products like gold.
The next conversation spotlights gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon, where environmental destruction and conflicts with indigenous communities are on the rise. Luiz Henrique Reggi Pecora of the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) and Deborah Goldemberg of WWF Brazil will speak to solutions to this escalating crisis. The panel will be moderated by Charlie Lyons, a journalist and producer with years of experience covering Amazon issues.
The final panel is about art and hope. Moderated by Producer Corinne Weber, we hear from Jon Cox, President of the ACEER Foundation, as well as Emir Cerman and Jason Park, Founders of ROTU Entertainment, about the ways media can change consumer behavior to create a better world.
Attendees will have the chance to engage with panelists via a 10-minute Q&A session following each session.
A Call to Action
Christina Miller, Consulting Director Amazon Aid’s Cleaner Gold Network, will conclude the meeting with a call to action. Attendees will leave with a sense of what they can do as individuals and as part of the Cleaner Gold Network moving forward.
Amazon Aid Foundation’s focus on illicit and unregulated gold mining in the Amazon includes the documentary “River of Gold” and accompanying curriculum, the white paper “Tracking Amazon Gold,” activations to support human rights and the environment, and the formation of the Cleaner Gold Network.
The Cleaner Gold Network meeting will be free and open to the public with advance registration.
