Murrawah Maroochy Johnson and Monique Jeffs

Mining and oil executives tend to see us—young, Indigenous leaders—as obstacles to be overcome or, at best, as adornments for their websites and annual reports. It can often take years of organizing and struggle, and a brilliantly crafted lawsuit, to grab their attention. Australian climate activist Murrawah Maroochy Johnson and her Youth Verdict co-director Monique Jeffs did exactly that. In 2019, when a billionaire tried to build a mine that would produce 1.4 billion tons of coal on traditional Wirdi land, they led a broad, collective effort to stop him. In a lawsuit, they argued that the coal mine would not only destroy the Wirdi territory in the Bimblebox Nature Refuge and surrounding areas, but would also violate the human rights of future generations by adding significant carbon to the atmosphere. They persuaded the court to hear Indigenous testimonies via stories, song, and dance. And they won.

They stopped the mine, but they didn’t stop organizing, channeling the victory in court into an Indigenous youth climate-­action movement, and receiving international recognition for their efforts. In the Ecuadorean Amazon we have pursued similar strategies, and I see in Murrawah and Monique two inspiring comrades in struggle.

Nenquimo, co-founder of Ceibo Alliance and Amazon Frontlines, is a co-author of the book We Will Be Jaguars