Both ENDS
Last week the Hunger 4 Action Conference’ , the Second Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change took place in Hanoi. More than one hundred Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), including Both ENDS, signed a letter in which they express their concern about the conference. Crucial topics would hardly be addressed, and the voice of small farmers, cattle-breeders and fishermen would not be heard while they are responsible for about 70 percent of global food production. The letter, which also contains suggestions about how it should be, was sent to the outgoing minister Maxime Verhagen, one of the organizers of the conference.
Large-scale soy production is causing continuous problems in South America such as land seizure, public health issues and loss of valuable natural areas. The Ecosystem Alliance - a cooperation of Both ENDS, IUCN NL and Wetlands International - enabled twenty South American civil society organisations to compose a plan together. The organisations are all directly or indirectly involved in soy issues. Both ENDS attended a meeting in Brazil at the end of March: participants from Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and the Netherlands gathered to identify communal problems and work towards a combined strategy to combat these.
Nathalie van Haren, senior policy officer at Both ENDS, is participating in the RIO+20 conference that officially started today. Whilst the draft text presented last March was no reason for optimism, Van Haren remains hopeful that the international community will take the necessary decisions. In an interview by Vice Versa (A Dutch magazine on development cooperation) she explains why a strict focus on the environment, seen in the draft text, is problematic.
The Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic is planning to reduce access to information about the Integrated Pollution Register (IPR), which has been functioning very well for the last 6 years. With that register, the Czech Republic—unlike some other countries—has an efficient instrument to control the implementation of international conventions regarding environmental protection, such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
On 30 September 2017 Both ENDS submitted a position statement on the draft Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil National Action Plan. The draft National Action Plan purports to represent a blue print for improving the sustainability of the Indonesian palm oil industry. However, Both ENDS has significant concerns about the logic, rationale and purpose behind the draft National Action Plan and its legitimacy as a benchmark for a sustainable palm oil industry.
In the three-part series Struggle Over the Nile, Al Jazeera examines the historical roots and present-day realities of conflicts regarding the Nile. The Nile is the world's longest river: a 7,000 km life-line for almost 400 million people. It is a source of sustenance, but also of tension - and even potential conflict.
Both ENDS' Niels Hazekamp and Daan Robben are joining the Climate CoP in Bonn to actively follow the negotiations, with a special focus on certain topics such as subsidies and support for fossil fuels, climate finance, climate adaptation, and gender. Both ENDS also co-organises a side event together with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
As of today, 1 September 2016, Paul Engel is Chair of the Board of Both ENDS. During his professional life Paul has always been seeking to contribute to global sustainable and inclusive development. His experience and knowledge of the field in which Both ENDS works therefore is of great added value.
On Monday September 5, together with the Dutch Party for the Animals, Both ENDS organised a Masterclass Dutch Export Credit Facility. The goal of the Masterclass was to inform Dutch parliamentarians and their staff on the functioning of the Dutch export credit facility.