The irreversible damage of oil spills
In the past decade, a number of oil spills triggered by humans and natural disasters both have changed the face of Latin America. Flooding healthy natural landscapes with tens of thousands of barrels of crude oil, these disasters leave already vulnerable ecosystems and people exponentially more so, with crippling damages and risks that strip communities of their livelihoods, health, and natural resources and cause irreversible damage to biodiversity and nature.
What are the real long- and short-term consequences of oil spills? What are the best ways to mitigate their toxic impacts? How do we prevent them from happening in the first place?
This GLF Live brings together Peruvian marine conservationist Daniel Cáceres Bartra, Brazilian journalist Thaís Herrero, and UN special rapporteur Marcos Orellana, to talk about toxics and human rights to discuss what should be done to lessen the ecological toll of oil spills in Latin America now and in the future.
About the hosts
Marcos A. Orellana is the UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights and an expert in international law and the law on human rights and the environment. He was the inaugural director of the Environment and Human Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, directed the trade and human rights programs at the Center for International Environmental Law, and co-chaired the UN Environment Program’s civil society forum.
Thaís Herrero is a Brazilian journalist. She received her degree in social communication from the University of São Paulo (USP), specializing in social and environmental communication and campaigns. She is responsible for the communication sector of the Iepé – Instituto de Pesquisa e Formação Indígena. She also studies feminism and gender equality.
Daniel Cáceres Bartra is the young founder and leader of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance hub in Peru and co-founder of the Taking Care of the Ocean collective. Bartra has worked on many marine biodiversity and conservation projects, from working with humpback whales to registering new reefs in the North of Peru.
