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Writer's pictureRe-Alliance
Nov 11, 2021

To all those considering our future, at COP26 and beyond

This open letter was collaboratively written by the Lush Spring Prize community, at the week of events in October 2021.


Art © Rosanna Morris, 2021

“Everybody is saying, ‘we'll do this, we'll do that’. But there's nothing, just words floating in the air. We need not just words, but also actions.”

Jimmy Yumbo, young forest defender, Sacha Kuyrana, Ecuador


To all those considering our future, at COP26 and beyond,


We are writing to you from five different continents as those working to repair the earth’s damaged systems. We ask you - as world leaders, as policy makers, as those concerned for our climate - to take heed of the work of regenerators from so many different movements: Indigenous land defenders, peasant farmers, agroecologists, permaculture practitioners, natural builders, food sovereignty activists, and more.


“To take care of our planet, we cannot work in silos, we have to work together.”

Dominant conversations about climate change have often been reduced to focusing on carbon alone or looking towards high-tech solutions that may not be technologically viable, or may even continue to fuel the crisis further.


Yet, the human, ecological and climate crises we face are connected and intersecting - and therefore need holistic solutions.


Regeneration invites us to think systemically. It means paradigms and practices that take a whole-systems approach to solving problems; looking at all the intersecting threads of our cultures, and restoring health, wholeness and resilience throughout.


As we wait for the COP26 agreements, the rights and wellbeing of all Life, human and non-human, must be at the forefront of our decisions. We ask: what would the future look like if we saw human civilization as part of nature rather than separate from the whole?


“It is time to focus on equitable education, sanitation, housing and healthcare in the Global South and the restructuring and redistribution of resources from the Global North based on a national and global economy. One that does not systemically exceed our upper ecological limits nor descend below an unacceptable quality of life.”

Guy Ritani, PermaQueer


We are asking for a just transition into a world where planetary care, human care, care for wildlife, and equitable distribution and access to resources are central tenets.


We know that what this looks like in different contexts will always be unique. Regeneration must therefore also be embedded in the approach, in the process. It must be collaborative, it must come from the voices of people. It must be embedded in the communities from which it emerges. Otherwise, it is colonialism in disguise.


“The solutions lie deep in our cultures, in the way we work to connect with our ancestral wisdom.”

Practitioners from our intersecting movements have worked on the fringes of society for too long. They’ve been excluded from conversations. They’ve been killed for what we stand up for.


We need to give platforms to those who have been historically marginalised or left out of policy conversations. Indigenous and First Nations communities; small holder farmers; communities from the Global South; those affected by climate disaster and conflict; refugees and displaced people; young people.


These voices are important to listen to as, in the words of Kenyan Peasants’ League, “no one mourns more than the bereaved;” or of PermaQueer, “The failings of our systems are never more known than by those who they have failed.” Only by listening to such perspectives can true change emerge.


There are narratives for a better future, and they’re coming from the margins.

When we give space to listen and hear these communities, unique and innovative solutions will emerge. Many of these solutions are already being practiced all around the world.


Now is the time to elevate the voices of regenerative practitioners and showcase a better world that is possible. Incredible, innovative solutions already exist, but they need funding, support, and voice.


This letter is therefore an invitation to listen to our unique voices and hear what we are saying, the solutions we understand, the strength we are holding - embedded in experience, in culture and in place.


Signed by:

The Lush Spring Prize Community, including:


Re-Alliance

Anna Clayton, Ethical Consumer, UK

Francesca de la Torre, Ethical Consumer, UK

James Atherton, Lush Ltd, UK

Maria Anchundia, Sacha Kuyrana, Ecuador

Ahmed Sourani, Gaza Urban & Peri-urban Agriculture Platform (GUPAP), Palestine

Eskender Mulugeta, Food Secured Schools Africa, Ethiopia

Teodora Borghoff, Timișoara Community Foundation, Romania

Lewis Mashingaidze, Fambidzanai, Zimbabwe

Norani Abu Bakar, Education for Climate Action for Peace, Malaysia

Coral Herencia. Fundación Cuidemos Paraísos. Chile. Guy Ritani & Toad Dell, PermaQueer, Australia

Jessie Doyle, Lush Ltd, Ireland,

Georgina McAllister, Centre for Agroecology, Water & Resilience, Coventry University. AgroecologyNow!

Cidi Otieno David, Kenyan Peasants League

Ola Tom Lakere, Youth In Permaculture Prize judge 2021, Permayouth Kitgum, Uganda

Jackie Kearney, Re-Alliance

Filipa Pimentel, Transition Network

Anna Andrade, Regenerosity

Amanda Joy Ravenhill, Buckminster Fuller Institute

Ego Lemos, Permaculture Timor-Leste (Permatil)

John Macharia, SCOPE Kenya

Monique Wambui, SCOPE Kenya

Gideon Mawenge, The Marginalised Mirror, Namibia

Tomás de Lara, Ciudades+B / Cities Can B, Brazil.

Sarah Queblatin, Green Releaf, Philippines

Bianca Elzenbaumer, Comunità Frizzante, Italy

Maria Inés Cuj, Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura, Guatemala



“It is time to have less talk and have more actions toward biodiversity regeneration. The future of the young people is much more important as that of the current generation.”
John Macharia, SCOPE Kenya


“Gostariamos de pedir que fizéssemos exercícios de humildade, percebendo que a raiz de nossos problemas é a ambição”.
"We would like to ask you to do exercises in humility, realising that the root of our problems is ambition"


“What did Africa get from the aid sector? What did we get from all these things sent to us constantly for the past five or six decades? In my view, we did not get much. Not much has changed.”
Eskender Mulugeta, Food Secured Schools Africa


“In the Amazon here, we have oil exploitation causing so much harm, deforesting big areas of land. My family members are joining forces to not allow oil companies to come in and deforest.”
María Anchundia, young forest defender, Sacha Kuyrana, Ecuador


"Resguardar social, ecológica y legalmente los principales ecosistemas de la Tierra - Biosfera- es fundamental para garantizar la posibilidad de un mundo sano para nuestras generaciones venideras."
“Protecting socially, ecologically and legally the main ecosystems of the Earth - Biosphere - is essential to guarantee the possibility of a healthy world for our future generations.”


“En nuestro país el 85% de la tierra está ocupada por grandes fincas de caña de azúcar y palma aceitera y acceder a tierra por parte de familias productoras es muy difícil. Actualmente personas defensoras están siendo criminalizadas por defender el derecho humano y el agua.”
“In our country, 85% of the land is occupied by large sugar cane and oil palm farms and access to land by producer families is very difficult. Defenders are currently being criminalized for defending human rights and water.”


“A voice from the global south, I bring along our griefs perpetuated by climate change. I urge you - the leaders gathering at COP26 - to act swiftly...The multiple crises our generation faces today requires understanding from a holistic perspective, that is only if you take us, the victims, seriously!”
Ola Tom Lakere, Permayouth Kitgum, Uganda


“Indigenous knowledge has been naturally supporting the maintainance of the world climate, in the efforts to roll back the effects through mitigation and in to engage in adaptation, more resources should be allocated to these communities and Indigenous practices at the grassroots level"


‘We are curing ourselves while curing the earth’


“When there is no peace among the people, our planet and the environment will be destroyed”


"It is time to honour ancestral and feminine-led knowledge into building resilient solutions based on care, nurturing and community. Women's life experiences in communities all around the globe are intrinsically connected to the environment. They are the ones collecting water, growing food and finding fuel. And also they are the ones whose lives are most impacted when crises arise. It is time that our leaders understand the meaning of environmental justice also from the female perspective."


“The global South has been heavily affected by climate change, urgency and innovations are needed in improving adaptability and promoting sustainable use of limited resources by smallholder farmers whilst increasing the carbon sequestration”.
Lewis Mashingaidze, Fambidzanai


"I ask everyone here today, how would you decorate your home? Would you have your home full of colour, full of life? Or full of darkness? Well, our planet is our home, and we are destroying it. The solutions are there. Sometimes the scale of the crisis can tear you down and leave you feeling helpless. But even the longest essay starts with a single word. There is no moving out of this beautiful home, this perfect home. We've got to bring out the mops, and get this home back in order."

"Participar en la regeneración Bio-Cultural de la Tierra es un gran compromiso que debemos asumir con acción prosolutiva, esperanza, convicción y valentía, aplicando Soluciones Basadas en la Naturaleza y recuperando la ciencia y sabiduría antigua."
"Participating in the Bio-Cultural regeneration of the Earth is a great commitment that we must assume with prosolutive action, hope, conviction and courage, applying Nature-Based Solutions and recovering ancient science and wisdom."
Fundación Cuidemos Paraísos, Chile

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