“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…
The Israeli blockade in Palestine has severe impacts on the daily lives of people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip: from blocking their access to water, to limiting their food sovereignty. Missile bombings over decades have damaged crop lands and wells, destroyed crops, killed hundreds of animals and deeply damaged artisanal fisheries. These were some of the impacts…
As El Salvador marks its bicentennial anniversary of independence, it seems there isn’t actually much to celebrate. Rather, there is a profound feeling of dissatisfaction with Nayib Bukele’s government among the Salvadoran people, who are demanding change. In addition to the series of earthquakes that hit the country on 22 September of this year, an atmosphere of threats to democracy…
Three-quarters of those without access to electricity now live in Africa, a share that has risen over recent years. The economic effects of Covid-19 have only increased the number of people unable to access electricity and who were forced into energy poverty. In this context, Friends of the Earth Africa has launched a report that analyses this situation and outlines…
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released, on 9 August 2021, the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report: “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis”. The rest of the report will be released over the next few months. “Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and…
On May 26, as a result of legal action brought by Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) together with 17,000 co-plaintiffs and six other organisations, the Hague court ordered Shell to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. This was the first time in history that a judge has held a corporation liable for causing…
“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…
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has released the first draft of its global action plan that aims to halt biodiversity loss by the end of the decade. The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework draft 1 was presented on 12 July 2021 and will undergo further refinement during online negotiations in the coming months. Thereafter, it will be submitted for…
“This is a historical moment for all of us. For the first time in history, a judge has ordered one of the largest polluters to stop contributing to dangerous climate change. The judge was crystal clear: Shell causes dangerous climate change, and Shell should stop immediately with doing that. It is a clear signal to all polluters in the world:…
Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, owned by the French transnational company Total, is located in the Rovuma river basin, in the Cabo Delgado province, north of Mozambique, close to the border with Tanzania. On April 26, the project announced the temporary withdrawal of all its personnel and the indefinite suspension of its activities. According to JA! – Friends of…
