Forests and Biodiversity

An ancient forest in the West of Germany was on the verge of destruction to expand a coal mine - until the hard work of activists from local communities and further afield paid off.

The 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) started on Saturday in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, under the theme “Investing in biodiversity for people and planet”. The event will take place through November 29th. Environmental activist Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth International´s Forests and Biodiversity program coordinator, who is present at the COP, warned that…

“It´s a sham” saying that the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is solving the serious socioenvironmental effects of this industry, said Nigerian environmental activist Rita Uwaka. “There are more environmental abuses, human rights abuses in countries where most of these RSPO certified companies exist”, she added. The annual conference of the RSPO is taking place from Monday to Thursday…

“Mobilizing and using people power is actually crucial to face the climate emergency”, said Friends of the Earth International´s Climate Justice and Energy Program Coordinator, Sara Shaw. A radical systemic change is needed, she warned. From this Saturday to October 13th, the member groups of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), present in 75 countries, will mobilize together to highlight…

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. However, “we cannot be celebrating”. The planet is facing serious environmental degradation, and the necessary measures to counteract it are not being taken, warned activist Rita Uwaka with Environmental Rights Action - Friends of the Earth Nigeria. The environmentalist, who is part of the steering group…

Milieudefensie – Friends of the Earth Netherlands launched a report where they warn that Dutch Banks ABN AMRO, ING and Rabobank have to take responsibility for the disastrous environmental and social consequences of providing finance to the palm oil sector at large scale. These banks should pull out of this sector, demands the organization. "What we wanted to show is…

At the end of June, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which gathers actors from several sectors of the palm oil industry, reported that they had suspended Swiss company Nestlé´s membership for failing to follow the RSPO´s Statutes and Code of Conduct. However, Nestlé “doesn´t seem to care”, warned Friends of the Earth International. “Voluntary certification has no means…

Environmental activist Dana Perls, of Friends of the Earth US, denounced in Montreal Canada that the “gene drive” is a new genetic engineering extinction technology, which could permanently alter entire generations and populations of species.} For this reason, Friends of the Earth International is calling for a moratorium on the release of gene drives in the framework of the session…

Approximately 800 Orang Asli indigenous people are blockading since February 15, 2018 at several areas of the Gua Musang district, Kelantan State, Malaysia, in defence of the environment and their customary rights over land and to stop forest exploitation, mining and large-scale monoculture plantations. “We want to block any activity that would destroy the environment”, said the Chairperson of the…

As part of their campaign “No to Oil Extraction”, environmental organization Friends of the Earth Togo visited the port of Lomé, capital of the country, to express their solidarity with the local fisherfolk together with the African network “Fishnet Alliance”, who strongly opposes oil activity. The visit took place in early March. Kwami D. Kpondzo, Campaign Officer at Friends of…