November 12 | 2021

Progress and concerns following latest round of UN negotiations on transnational corporations and human rights

The United Nations (UN) negotiations for a Binding Treaty to regulate human rights violations perpetrated by transnational corporations and enable victims to access justice “have taken a qualitative leap forward,” declared the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity . Following the seventh round of negotiations hosted by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva from 25-29 October,…

October 11 | 2021

AN ATTEMPT TO RETRACE THE INTRICATE PATH OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF IMPUNITY

“What we see at the international level and often at the national level is an imbalance between the rights of peoples and the rights of corporations,” warned environmental activist Sam Cossar-Gilbert, speaking about the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism in a recent webinar. ISDS is “a biased justice system, organised by private lawyers, not by judges, and it's a tool…

August 10 | 2021

What is going on with plastic waste in the Asia Pacific region?

“Asia is drowning in plastic,” says a new report from the Centre for Environmental Justice/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka, launched in the wake of the 15th UN COP to the Basel Convention, which was held online from 26 to 30 July. The report, entitled “Breaking the Plastic Cycle in Asia”, exposes the reality of plastic waste dumping for people…

February 5 | 2021

Friends of the Earth wins historic ruling against Shell in Nigeria

On 29 January 2021, after 13 years of legal proceedings, the Dutch court ruled in favour of four farmers who, with the support of Friends of the Earth Netherlands, denounced Shell for oil spills in the Niger Delta between 2004 and 2007. “My first impression is that of joy and happiness. When you struggle and you see the fruit of…

December 23 | 2020

Ecuador will appeal Chevron’s arbitration award

At the last minute, the State Attorney General's Office of Ecuador informed the Union of People Affected by Texaco (UDAPT) that it had begun the appeal process of the arbitration award in favor of Chevron in The Hague. In November, UDAPT warned in a statement that the arbitration award issued ordered the Ecuadorian State "to violate judicial autonomy and interfere…

August 3 | 2020

Palestine: Activist Abu Saker and his son arrested

In the early hours of Wednesday 29 July, Abu Saker and his 22-year-old son Sakher were arrested by Israeli soldiers and held for 20 hours, without food or water. The police accused them of "stealing water" from Israel's national water company, Mekorot, which -in fact- "illegally appropriates Palestinians to serve, among others, Israel's settlement project", reported the website Stop The…

March 17 | 2020

“We need national policies for people affected by dams”

14 March marks the Day of Struggle of people affected by dams. The Latin American Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAR) is growing and taking its motto to different places around the world: “Water and energy are not commodities! Water for Life, not for death!”. In the midst of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, Real World Radio interviewed Diana Giraldo,…

January 21 | 2020

People affected by Brumadinho dam disaster protest outside Minas Gerais court

The Brazilian Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) launched on 20 January a week of activities for the Days of Struggle (“Jornadas de Lucha”) to mark the first anniversary of corporate crimes committed by mining company Vale in Brumadinho, Brazil. Hundreds of people affected by mining and hydroelectric dams will march 300 kilometers over five days, tracing back along…

July 31 | 2019

Threats and abuses of the growing gas industry in Mozambique

Mozambique is rapidly becoming one of the Liquified natural gas (LNG) giants of the world. With little international media coverage, oil and gas monsters such as Exxon, Eni, Chevron, Shell and BP are rubbing their hands at the million dollar business prospects in this African country. Ongoing projects, whilst still in their exploration and construction stages, are already displacing local…

July 25 | 2019

Hard blow for communities suffering human rights violations at global level

“The attempts to establish the supremacy of human rights over corporate logic are not covered in the entire text of the Draft 1”, warned Brazilian expert Manoela Roland about the new document presented by the Ecuadorian Chair in UN negotiations for a legally binding treaty on transnational corporations and human rights. “In addition, the scope of the future treaty has…