Climate Justice and Energy


Irregularities surrounding police investigation in to death of Indonesian human rights activist Golfrid Siregar

Golfrid Siregar, member of the legal advocacy team of WALHI North Sumatra was found unconscious on a roadside on 3 October 2019, and died three days later in hospital. Despite being found fatally injured under very suspicious circumstances, the police said that his death was the result of a traffic accident. “Last year, the police held a press conference regarding…

Ban on small hydropower plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 23 June 2020, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted a complete ban on the construction of small hydropower plants (SHHPs) in the territory. In practical terms, this means immediate suspension of all new hydro-projects, and a chance to turn the tables on the exploitation of rivers and water across this Balkan State. The conclusion represents…

Drop in oil prices: an opportunity?

On 20 April, the world woke up to a historical drop in the price of oil in the United States. The reference value for crude oil in the US (WTI) reached negative numbers for the first time in history. Argentina’s Southern Oil Observatory (Opsur) issued a press release, stating: “Press and social media are filled with technical explanations, when the…

What does factory-farmed meat have to do with the climate crisis?

The video proposes solutions that can help get us out of the dead-end street in which the agrifood corporations are trying to barricade us. In recent years, GRAIN’s research on the climate impacts of industrial food production has focused more particularly on the contribution of factory farming and its byproducts to global warming. The data come as a shock: taken…

Is Heathrow getting a third runway?

Friends of the Earth EWNI´s special bonus episode comes hot on the heels of Friends of the Earth's historic win in the Court of Appeal. On Thursday 27 February, government plans to expand Heathrow airport were ruled illegal, on the grounds that they did not full consider the climate impacts of the project. But what happens now, and what does…

“The hardest part is knowing that Vale continues operating”

During the march of people affected by mining company Vale in Brumadinho (Brazil) held by the Brazilian Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) from 20-25 January, during the first anniversary of the worst socioenvironmental crime in this South American country, Real World Radio interviewed activist Leticia Paranhos, co-coordinator of the Economic Justice-Resisting Neoliberalism Program (EJRN) at Friends of the…

Hope, Outrage and Courage on the First Anniversary of Brumadinho Dam Disaster

On 24 January, the eve of the first anniversary of mining company Vale's crimes in Brumadinho, human rights defender Leonardo Boff expressed his solidarity with the 270 victims and their families. The theologian, philosopher and writer participated in an international seminar, ‘One year after the crime committed by Vale in Brumadinho’, organized by the Brazilian Movement of People Affected by…

Healing through the struggle for Human Rights

Lead, mercury, cadmium and zinc are just some of the heavy metals found in the toxic mud left over from mining activities. Government officials in Minas Gerais, Brazil, identified levels of these metals up to 21 times above the acceptable metal in the mud that spread through Brumadinho and the Paraopeba River on 25 January, 2019. Geraldo Martins, a healthcare…

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…