The Rio Sem Óleo campaign stems from the connection between spirituality, climate justice, and grassroots mobilization, with the goal of protecting the waters of Guanabara Bay and the rivers that feed it. Inspired by religious traditions and traditional communities that recognize the sacredness of nature, the initiative unites leaders of faith communities, artisanal fishermen, researchers, educators, and socio-environmental activists around a common cause: combating the impacts of the oil industry on traditional territories, defending the collective right to life and clean water, and redistributing resources from oil profits to climate adaptation for the most vulnerable communities.

The campaign’s central focus is to raise public awareness of the systematic damage caused by the oil industry, such as oil spills, water contamination, and the violation of the rights of communities that rely on fishing, agriculture. It also focuses on the spirituality associated with rivers and mangroves. In this sense, preserving water also becomes an act of faith, resistance, and commitment to future generations, especially in the context of the climate crisis, where communities already in a situation of socio-environmental vulnerability suffer disproportionately from extreme weather events.

Focused on the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region, especially around Guanabara Bay, the campaign focuses on the combination of accessible data production, popular education, and public pressure. Planned actions include the development of a federal-level political advocacy campaign against the actions of oil companies. Training sessions on the impacts of oil and safety in activism, and a large-scale public mobilization to draw attention to the uneven distribution of oil revenues. Also, the lack of transparency regarding these resources in public environmental management.

During campaign meetings, held in the first half of 2025, participants reaffirmed the importance of promoting the recognition of traditional territories, the demarcation of areas in the Guanabara Bay basin, the review of the distribution of oil royalties. They also stressed the urgent need for participatory climate adaptation plans. Furthermore, they denounced the weakening of environmental laws and the stripping of rights of artisanal fishermen, such as Ordinance No. 479, which eliminated the General Fishing Registry for thousands of workers.

The campaign also works with religious leaders who have faced challenges such as religious racism and the lack of support for sustainable initiatives within their sacred spaces. Spirituality, in this context, is not only inspiration; it is also a political action that aims to unite collective voices in a gesture of care for local ecosystems.

All the individuals and organizations that make up the Rio Sem Óleo campaign invite those interested in these issues to get involved: sharing the content produced, participating in meetings and workshops, receiving training at their schools, religious centers, and churches, and lobbying authorities based on the information gathered.

Collectively built and committed to a just energy transition, the campaign brings together diverse voices around a clear message: it’s time to put life at the center and break with the destructive logic of oil. Because where there is faith, there is struggle. And where there is struggle, there is transformation.

Follow us on Instagram @greenfaith.br and contact us at carla@greenfaith.org and julia@greenfaith.org for more information.

Join us in this urgent cause!

Organizações – Campanha Rio sem Óleo
GreenFaith Brasil, Instituto Mirindiba de Ação Climática Popular, ACAMM, ICMU, Coalizão pelo Clima, AHOMAR, AMUPESCAR, ONG Água Doce, Terreiro Sustentável, LIPESCARJ e SINDIPESCA-RJ.

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The accident, which occurred on October 1st, involved the collision of two trucks carrying thousands of liters of gasoline, diesel, and asphalt emulsion, resulting in a spill into the Suruí River. This impacted a large area of ​​the Suruí Environmental Protection Area (APA), which was created by decree No. 2300/2007 to protect the remaining Atlantic Forest and the springs of the Suruí, Iriri, Inhomirim, and other rivers in the region. This disaster has compromised the local population and all the biodiversity present in the Suruí River and surrounding areas, threatening the livelihood of communities that depend on local fishing.

Impacts on the local population

Since the accident, fishermen and women from the Magé Mangrove Association of Crab Harvesters and Friends (ACAMM) and the Association of Seafarers (AHOMAR) have been publicly protesting, demanding effective action from the government, as the accident coincided with the crab harvesting season, a period during which crab harvesting is prohibited due to the species’ reproductive phase, and fishermen receive social security benefits.

Besides the economic loss, the spill had a direct impact on the health of the local community. Dona Solange, a resident of Suruí, reported experiencing a sensation of suffocation due to difficulty breathing, as well as a burning sensation in her nose, which progressed to a sore. Fisherwoman Márcia Santos reported experiencing a nosebleed. This demonstrates symptoms of inhalation poisoning due to the strong odor of contaminants, such as benzene, present in gasoline. According to the National Cancer Institute (INCA), it is “among the ten greatest chemical problems for global public health.” It can cause acute and chronic health effects, such as irritation of the ocular and respiratory mucosa; dizziness; headache; tremors; seizures; bleeding; and, in the worst cases, death. It is clear, then, that this accident may have caused neurological and immunological changes in the affected community, who have not received any specialized care or compensation for these effects.

This context further exacerbates the socio-environmental vulnerability that the population of Magé already experiences, given that the city is on the “periphery of the periphery.” According to data from Casa Fluminense, 66% of homes in Magé are located in high-risk flood areas, equivalent to 73,000 households in the city. In this context, when extreme weather events occur, this population that is harmed by the oil and gas industry during production is also one of the most impacted by the consequences that the burning of these fossil fuels has on the planet’s climate. 

Environmental risks in Magé

The environmental disaster reignited debate about Magé’s vulnerability to industrial impacts resulting from oil and gas in Guanabara Bay and its tributaries. On January 18, 2000, the Suruí River had already suffered a spill of approximately 1,300 m³ of marine fuel oil (MF380) from a REDUC pipeline. Environmental studies conducted at the time considered the mangrove swamp most degraded by this environmental crime in the region.

Later, in 2018, the municipality of Magé suffered another spill within the Rio Estrela Environmental Protection Area, polluting the river and harming its fishing community and residents. This highlights how the oil industry operates in this region, socializing losses while privatizing profits. And, more recently, in April 2024, a toluene spill contaminated several rivers, including the Guapiaçu River basin in the municipality of Guapimirim, which borders Magé. This resulted in water shortages for millions of people in several cities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to causing massive fish die-offs, affecting fishing in the region.

Given this history of deterritorializing actions by the oil industry, GreenFaith Brasil joined forces with local organizations (ACAMM, AHOMAR, and the Mirindiba Institute for Popular Climate Action) to fight the Suruí River accident, not just as an isolated case, but as yet another consequence of this energy model that grows based on the destruction of ecosystems and the livelihoods of the populations that depend on them, whether directly or indirectly.

The oil spill on the Suruí River demonstrates the need for a more systemic approach to the environmental damage caused by the oil industry in Guanabara Bay, which has been accumulating for decades. Local ecosystems and communities in this region have not been able to regenerate from the degradation caused by past environmental crimes, as they continually experience new disasters that impact biodiversity. This development process, based on ecosystem destruction, has consequences for food sovereignty, leisure, tourism, and ways of relating to nature, as shown in the master’s study conducted in 2022 by Carla Lubanco, a researcher and resident of Suruí.  

Faith for Climate Justice

The Interfaith Walk for Climate Justice on the Suruí River was, therefore, an act of unity among diverse faiths, building a narrative that allows for a different perspective on this region. This interfaith movement is not isolated, but part of a global effort, the “Faith for Climate Justice” campaign. In Brazil, GreenFaith has been working to strengthen traditional fishing communities and maintain biodiversity as possibilities for economic and social growth in this region, to the detriment of the decline in oil exploration, which has only generated profits for companies, leaving communities increasingly socially vulnerable in the context of the Climate Emergency.

It is in this local context that the relationship between faith and the environment becomes even more urgent in the face of the climate emergency and environmental disasters, such as the one that occurred on the Suruí River. For many people of faith, nature is a sacred creation, and caring for it is a spiritual and ethical act that transcends doctrine. In times of crisis, it is these faith communities that often open their doors to welcome and support those most affected, offering support and a space of dignity amidst the devastation.

Thus, climate justice gains strength when incorporated by religious movements, which advocate for a harmonious and respectful relationship with nature. This spiritual commitment highlights the importance of protecting the environment as part of human responsibility toward the sacred, especially for local populations whose lives and cultures are intrinsically linked to the environment around them. The union of voices from diverse faiths through GreenFaith Brazil seeks to transform this relationship, instigating everyone’s commitment to preserving life and the planet.

Through faith, GreenFaith Brazil calls on all who believe it is possible to (re)build our relationship with nature through the sacred, advocating for the protection of ecosystems and confronting the predatory actions of the oil industry in Guanabara Bay, its rivers, and mangroves. This walk symbolizes hope that, even in the face of environmental crimes and government disregard for the suffering of local communities, there are still those who recognize the value of biodiversity and human interdependence with ecosystems. The fight for climate justice is inseparable from the struggles for social, racial, and gender justice, which touch the lives of everyone, including people of faith, regardless of their beliefs.

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The Magé Climate Forum (FOMA) is a collective organized by young socio-environmental activists and researchers from the city of Magé, in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region, created out of the need to combat climate injustice and environmental racism in the region. Its main objectives are: raising awareness, through educommunication, of the impacts of the climate crisis in Magé and the Baixada Fluminense region of Rio de Janeiro; coordinating institutions and movements that work in different ways to address socio-environmental injustices in the city, amplifying the voices of community leaders fighting for social justice in the region; conducting educational activities to build civil society; and engaging in local and regional political advocacy.

Magé is a city with unique socio-biodiversity within the state of Rio de Janeiro, located between the mountains and the sea, blending rural and urban environments, and still covered by remnants of the Atlantic Forest biome. Thus, it encompasses diverse ecosystems and has diverse traditional communities spread throughout the territory. Based on this reality, the need to bring to the fore the discussion on the implementation of socio-environmental public policies within this city was recognized. These policies have historically been implemented ineffectively in relation to environmental protection mechanisms and, consequently, have impacted the quality of life of its population, exposing them disproportionately to environmental risks. The terror caused by the oil industry in Guanabara Bay and some of its tributary rivers is similar in some respects to that suffered by the populations affected by the mining industry. A specific modus operandi is adopted regarding environmental “accidents” and the way these areas are treated as “sacrifice zones.” It’s a calculated terror used to drive the community from its territory, further fueling this oil occupation. “It’s not new that Guanabara Bay has become the base for the offshore industry.”

Essentially considering the diversity of religions and faiths, the meetings we’ve planned demonstrate a democratic and pluralistic possibility for interconnection between groups through collaboration, listening, and respect. We’re creating a broad and diverse space for each entity or religious group to consider its role in the fight against the climate crisis and fossil fuels.

Through discussion groups, breakfasts, and meeting activities, our intention is also to raise awareness among the participating entities to further engage in political pressure, to commit to disseminating accurate information, and to engage local leaders in developing equitable climate strategies with transparency and social and environmental responsibility.

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More than 500 actions were registered in 49 countries between October 2nd and November 6th, amplifying the voices of people of different spiritualities demanding effective action from governments and large corporations on climate change.

In Brazil, in partnership with the “Faith in the Climate” initiative of the Institute of Religious Studies and other organizations, we carried out actions in three different cities in Brazil: Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Recife (PE), and the Anã Community (PA). These actions joined 500 other actions around the world that mobilized people of faith for climate justice.

In the Anã community, for example, we brought Sunday Mass to the community center and held a reflection activity on how the region is affected by the climate emergency. Afterwards, we created messages of faith and demands together for a walk to the Church that brought the community together for this symbolic act on the banks of the Arapiuns River, in the state of Pará.

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