Both ENDS
Dutch export credit agency Atradius DSB announced yesterday that it is to provide export credit insurance worth 1,5 billion euros to Dutch dredging company Boskalis for a controversial land reclamation project in the Philippines. According to Dutch and international organisations, including Both ENDS, CARE Netherlands, IUCN NL, Kalikasan PNE and Oceana Philippines, the award of export credit insurance for this project runs contrary to the Netherlands' ambitions in the areas of environment and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The European Bank voor Reconstruction and Development wants to provide $40 million to a Kuwaiti company that is going to start doing oil drilling in Egypt. Huub Scheele from Both ENDS together with Egyptian NGOs urges the EBRD to postpone the decision, as the money is not going to contribute to any positive changes for the Egyptian people.
The 17th session of the Commission for Sustainable Development of the United Nations (UNCSD) took place in New York in May. This session, which commenced last year, was continued by Gerda Verburg, the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. The subjects on the agenda at this 17th session were Africa, Agriculture, Drought & Desertification, Rural Development and Land. Both ENDS was present in New York to follow the negotiations.
John Mathew, co-founder and director of the Keystone Foundation and Last Forest Enterprises Ltd, India, has been elected as a member of the board of IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements). Mathew is a close partner of Both ENDS who is working relentlessly to improve the position and production conditions of small scale producers, notably remote indigenous communities.
How do local people already arm themselves against the consequences of climate change? And what can other local communities and policy makers learn from them? The Centre for Social Research and Development (CSRD), a CSO from Vietnam and a partner of Both ENDS, produced an easy-to-read, practical guide to implementing various local adaptation measures.
