Cool Earth - Criticism

Criticism

Cool Earth argues with their critics that they do not buy land, as has been wrongly suggested by some groups such as Survival International but instead work with local trusts and communities to help secure land tenure rights for them and work with them to establish sustainable living without destroying the rainforest. Cool Earth state that most of the indigenous communities they now work with have actively approached Cool Earth themselves or through groups such as Ecotribal and Fauna and Flora International who Cool Earth work with on their projects.

Cool Earth are adamant that their projects are not greenwash campaigns or enacting 'Green Colonialism' or Neocolonialism and agree with the various environmentalist groups and Indigenous Rights groups who raise awareness of the dangers 'Green Colonialism'.

'It's like a bucket of water in the North Sea: the amount of land that's being bought by outsiders is infinitesimally small, and if you look at there's 15,000 times more land protected because it's under indigenous control in the Amazon.'

The Survival International report 'Progress can Kill' says land ownership has the biggest impact on health of indigenous tribes because people separated from their land are prone to imported western diseases, suffer mental illnesses and high rates of suicide.