Both ENDS
Indigenous Hondurans are resisting the construction of the Agua Zarca hydrodam. Their fight has cost several lives, including that of Berta Cáceres. After considerable public pressure, Dutch development bank FMO withdrew from the project.
TEGUCIGALPA/UTRECHT, January 12, 2026 – The murder of indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres, which took place almost 10 years ago in Honduras, appears to be the result of an organized criminal operation, in which funds from the Dutch Development Bank FMO were misappropriated to finance illegal activities. This is the conclusion of the investigation report published today by the independent commission set up by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Honduran state, and the relatives of Berta Cáceres.
For years, FMO was a major financier of the Agua Zarca project. Berta Cáceres, an indigenous leader, fought against this controversial dam and was murdered for that reason in March 2016.
In 2011 one of the world’s largest gas reserves was found in the coastal province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of Mozambique. A total of 35 billion dollars has been invested to extract the gas. Dozens of multinationals and financiers are involved in these rapid developments. It is very difficult for the people living in Cabo Delgado to exert influence on the plans and activities, while they experience the negative consequences. With the arrival of these companies, they are losing their land.
Last Tuesday, I received a short text message with big news: the minister had just announced that the financing policy for the Mozambique LNG project was stopped. It was a decision that I – along with so many others – have fought for for years. Only now, more than a week later, it is slowly sinking in that we have really won. The years of perseverance, frustration, discussions and investigations have finally led to this result. It still feels a bit surreal.
Both ENDS calls on the government only to provide export credit insurance to sustainable projects that cause no social and/or environmental damage in the countries where they take place.
THE HAGUE/CABO DELGADO, December 1, 2025 - Today, Minister of Finance Eelco Heinen announced that TotalEnergies is withdrawing from a $640 million Dutch export credit insurance policy for a controversial gas project in Mozambique. Although the Dutch government has been avoiding this decision for years, this move has finally ended part of the Dutch involvement in this disastrous project.
The Barro Blanco dam project in Panama, which has Dutch financial support, is causing indigenous lands to disappear under water. Both ENDS is working to protect the rights of indigenous communities living near the dam.
In October 2025 I travelled to Kiad, the Indigenous Ngäbe community that led the struggle against the FMO-financed Barro Blanco dam, for one last time. I went there to say my goodbyes, both personally and on behalf of Both ENDS, and to catch a first glimpse on how a community program financed by FMO and DEG – the result of a dialogue process that took several years – is giving a new impulse to the dam-affected communities. But how did we get here?
