Africa


Mozambique after cyclone IDAI: “People know this is climate chaos”

Our people are dying due to intensified weather events, like cyclone IDAI that hit Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe on March 14th, and the precedent and related flooding in the rivers of the region, causing utter devastation and suffering. We know that, in Mozambique, we are on the front line of climate breakdown. The poor and the most vulnerable will always…

Plantations are not forests

March 21 marks the International Day of Forests. This date was chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in order to raise awareness about the importance of forests. This year, the theme is “Forests and Education”. However, for the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) the first who needs to be educated is the FAO, since its…

Life cannot be dammed

March 14th marks the International Day of Action against Dams and for Rivers. Mobilizations around the world denounced the socioenvironmental impacts of these construction works that operate in hydroelectric and mining projects. The Climate Justice and Energy Program of Friends of the Earth International expressed its solidarity with the communities affected by hydroelectric dams, especially the Lenca indigenous people defending…

The Human Right to Water

The National summit on the human right to water was held in Nigeria from 29-30 January 2019, to share community fights against the corporate control of water, resisting privatization and to ensure universal access to water in Africa and around the world. Environmental Rights Action (ERA) - Friends of the Earth Nigeria co-organised the event in the Nigerian capital, Abuja,…

A Just Transition is Needed Now*

Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa This is the last action I am undertaking before groundWork closes for 2018. groundWork believes a Just Transition is urgently needed and that you need to be at the forefront of this as leader of the country to prevent a transition that will cripple South Africa and destroy the promise of democracy. The recent Intergovernmental Panel…

Mozambican journalist detained

We have just heard that Mozambican journalist Estacio Valoi and 2 foreign journalists have been detained in Palma, Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique. This happened on the morning on 17 December 2018, by the Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique (Defense Forces of Mozambique). The journalists had permission from the local and provincial authorities to do their reporting work, yet they were stopped. Their…

Advances against gene drives

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity urged the governments on November 29th to conduct strict risk assessments and consult indigenous people and other local communities before releasing organisms into the environment with “exterminator technology” such as gene drives. The decision to consult the people about this dangerous genetic modification of organisms was celebrated by Friends of the Earth and the…

Friends of the Earth Africa at the West African Caravan on Water, Land and Seeds

This November, the West African Caravan on Water, Land and Seeds is traveling through West Africa to promote food sovereignty and agroecology. People are joining the caravan to defend small-scale food producers' access to natural resources. The Caravan represents hundreds of victims of land and water grabbing and exposes the failings of industrial food production. The Caravan is passing through…

The process continues

The resolutions and conclusions of the Intergovernmental Working Group submitted by Luis Gallegos, permanent representative of Ecuador at the UN and chair of the negotiations, were approved, but the representatives of the European Union were the only ones there who did not agree with the conclusions. Now the chair will present a revised version of the binding instrument before June…