NEW YORK, September 24.– International celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Harrison Ford, Emma Thompson, Eugenio Derbez, Stephen Fry, Cynthia Nixon, Chelsea Handler, and Lily Tomlin have joined their voices together to tell the Ecuadorian government that “the Amazon is not for sale,” coinciding with Ecuador’s government appearing before the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York City.
This message from international celebrities is circulating on an advertising truck through a video in which they warn: “The Amazon is not for sale!” This tactic, a common practice during the General Assembly, is accompanied by a social media campaign, including a post by Fonda, also being shared by other celebrities.
In the video, they demand that President Noboa fulfill his responsibility to protect the human and collective rights of Indigenous nations, as well as their ancestral territories in the Amazon. This global call is made in response to the great risk faced by the Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador, caused by current oil plans that threaten 8.7 million acres of primary forest in one of the most biodiverse regions of the world.
“I have marched for peace, for justice, and now I stand with the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon. The Amazon is not for sale, not to oil companies, not to miners, not to loggers. Its value is beyond money: it is the beating heart of the planet, and defending it is the responsibility of us all,” said Fonda during the launch of the campaign that is taking place both on social media and in the streets.
This international support aligns with that of Indigenous leaders and youth from the affected territories, including the Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo, who in 2019 led her people in a historic climate victory against the major oil companies.
“Today the eyes of the world are on Ecuador due to the alarming dismantling of laws and presidential decrees that are restricting civil rights and threatening greater destruction in the Amazon to promote oil extraction,” said Nemonte Nenquimo, of the Ceibo Alliance.
The central concern is the “Hydrocarbon Roadmap” announced by Ecuador’s government in August 2025. This ambitious and controversial plan envisions 49 projects with a projected investment of more than 47 billion dollars, which represents a serious threat to vast extensions of the Ecuadorian Amazon, including its delicate ecosystems and the ancestral homes of diverse Indigenous communities. 89% of these territories at risk in the Amazon correspond to intact primary forests, among the most well-preserved in the region, and which together act as an important climate buffer.
The international community is making strong calls to the Ecuadorian government from diverse spaces to halt this plan, which threatens the protection of the Amazon, one of the most vital ecosystems on the planet, and a crucial natural solution in the face of the climate crisis.
