Both ENDS
With an estimated length of 4350 kilometers, the Mekong River is the seventh longest river in Asia. The Mekong basin also boasts the second highest level of biodiversity of any river system in the world, behind the Amazon. The richness of plants and animals in the basin has not even been fully discovered and described yet. The question, however, is whether this wealth can be sustained. The management of the river is in the hands of the Mekong River Commission (MRC). This commission includes representatives from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Netherlands supports the MRC and Dutch consultants are doing work commissioned by the MRC.
Last week the 11th Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil was held in Medan , Indonesia. One of the issues central to the discussions was the increasing conflict over land use, especially in Indonesia, but increasingly elsewhere in Asia, Africa and Latin America . The cause: the poorly controlled production of palm oil, a raw material for a wide range of products such as food and cosmetics, and as biofuel as an alternative to fossil fuels.
We grieve over the decease of Mr. Severino Cassiano da Silva – better known as Biu - last Sunday the 5th of February, 2017. Biu was the last native resident of Tatuoca Island in Pernambuco State, Brazil. His life and fate were blended with this island, where previously more than 50 families lived from traditional fisheries and artisanal agriculture and fruit trees.
To Eric Wirsiy, director of CENDEP, the importance of forests is clear: not only do they function as a "free supermarket", providing foods and other things to local communities, but they are crucial to make landscapes resilient to climate change and other impacts.
Utrecht/Amsterdam, 27 September 2022 - On Wednesday 28 September, Dutch civil society organisations will organise a protest at the offices of oil giant TotalEnergies in The Hague, drawing attention to the problems surrounding the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Uganda. They are calling on investors to get out of TotalEnergies because of this project, which is causing human rights violations and serious environmental pollution. Two weeks ago the European Parliament passed a resolution against the human rights violations linked to EACOP.
The water quality of East Java's largest river, the Brantas River, is increasingly deteriorating due to a combination of industrial and household waste. This environmental pollution has a disproportionate impact on women. Yet, their participation in decision-making remains lacking. ECOTON is working to improve the situation.
Fabio Schvartsman and Gerd Peter Poppinga attended a Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) trial session, last Tuesday, October 1st. Poppinga was convicted by one of the CMV directors, but the second CMV director requested more time to review the case files, postponing the judgment by 60 days. Victims’ families and supporters will have to keep waiting for justice regarding one of Brazil’s worst human and environmental disasters.
Standing in Belém during COP30, I felt the weight of the moment. We came to the Amazon hoping for decisive progress on phasing out fossil fuels, yet the final outcome fell far short of the ambition science and justice demand. The agreement brought welcome commitments on adaptation finance and global indicators, but it refused to confront the structural forces that make climate action so difficult.
