Both ENDS in Copenhagen, what´s up?
Both ENDS in Copenhagen, what´s up?
Both ENDS is here for a number of reasons. First of all, we had the opportunity to present and discuss in two sessions the rationale and preliminary results of our ADAPTS programme, which we implement together with the Institute of Environmental Studies, ACACIA and local partners in 6 river basins around the world. Secondly, the so-called Development & Climate Days are held parallel to the COP. These days focus, not surprisingly, on the role of climate change in development and provide an excellent opportunity for meeting up with partners, networking, sharing and learning. Our short documentaries on two projects funded by the European Investment Bank, which had huge impacts on the resilience of the local population and the environment, were also shown at this event. As for the negotiations, it is hard to follow the complex technical details, especially this week when the texts are being drafted, and the real tough decisions are to be made by the heads of state next week. But from talks with partners, some written updates and a briefing session of the Climate Action Network, I understand that after the fiasco of the leaked 'Danish text" there is 'positive momentum'.
In the big Bella Conference Centre where I am currently having a coffee, all the people, meeting rooms, sessions, stands and papers can be quite overwhelming. While some people are frantically discussing issues with each other or working hard on statements or press releases, you also see people wondering around somewhat lost. Looking around, I wonder how many of all the people here actually make a difference (including myself). At the same time, you do feel strengthened being here: the vibe is inspiring and the urgency can be felt. When you listen to a woman from Ghana struggling to grow enough food for her family, run into a group of people from small island states shouting to keep them on the map, or hear about a delegate from Tuvalu crying while giving his speech in the plenary session, you again realise all this is not just a high-level, international conference. For them it is their survival.

United Nations Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen

The Bella Conference Centre

A group from small islands states keeping them on the map

Read more about this subject
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News / 6 June 2025
Both ENDS at the UN Ocean Conference: voicing our environmental justice concerns about the “Blue Economy”
Next week, the United Nations Ocean Conference will take place in Nice, France. This conference is focused on the conservation and sustainable use of coasts, seas and marine resources. Both ENDS colleague Murtah Shannon will be attending. We’ve asked him to explain a bit more about his plans.
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News / 5 June 2025
Op-ed: New trading partners, but not on the same terms
Since President Trump's trade war and tariffs, international trade has once again been thrust into the spotlight. In Europe and the Netherlands, there are growing calls for new free trade agreements to be concluded as quickly as possible, as reflected in recent opinions in FD and de Volkskrant. But that is the wrong reflex, writes our colleague Marius Troost.
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News / 4 June 2025
Demanding Shell’s Accountability for decades of pollution in Niger Delta
Both ENDS and our Nigerian partner Kebetkache Women Development & Research Centre attended Shell’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), on May 20th, in London, to demand transparency and accountability for Shell Plc’s opaque divesment in the Niger Delta.
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Blog / 3 June 2025
A food forest as an inspiring oasis between monoculture fields
Recently, we visited food forest Ketelbroek with a group of colleagues. This project was initiated by food forest pioneer Wouter van Eck and our own Pieter Jansen. What a beautiful place! Located between monocrop fields of ryegrass, beetroot and potatoes, the food forest is a green oasis. Birdsong fills the air and there is a constant buzz and fluttering all around. Hares, badgers, foxes and wild boars are regular visitors. And let's not forget the beavers.
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News / 20 May 2025
Both ENDS and partners demand Shell to clean up the Niger Delta before divesting
At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shell in London, community leaders from the Niger Delta and international allies, including Both ENDS, are confronting Shell with a clear demand: Shell must take full responsibility for decades of pollution and human suffering in Nigeria’s Niger Delta before divesting from its on-shore oil operations.
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News / 9 May 2025
Women’s leadership in agroecology flourishes in Eastern and Southern Africa
On 12 and 13 February 2025, women from Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe gathered in Nairobi for the Africa Women Leaders in Agroecology (AWOLA) Regional Networking Forum. The event marked a significant moment in the leadership programme of PELUM Kenya, which empowers young women in their role as leaders in the agroecological transition. This project was made possible thanks to support from Both ENDS as part of the Fair, Green and Global (FGG) Alliance.
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External link / 29 April 2025
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Blog / 23 April 2025
The power of trust
Trust builds trust. That is what I have learned from how Both ENDS works - within our team, with partners in joint strategies and advocacy, and in our relationships with partners as a funder. Trust is the foundation. It is what allows compassion to grow, what gives rise to hope, and what fuels real solidarity. This is especially powerful in contrast to the prevailing global trend of political and international leaders who prioritize hard measures and self-interest, ignoring relations of trust. It is even more reason for us to share what we have experienced when we put trust first.
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Letter / 15 April 2025
African civil society urges Oman against EACOP support as east Africa trade expo kicks off
Just one day before the Oman East Africa Trade and Investment
Expo opens in Muscat on April 16, over 70 civil society organisations (CSOs) from Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and beyond have published an open letter urging the Government of Oman to refrain from providing financial or diplomatic support for the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). -
Blog / 11 April 2025
FMO is very pleased with its own success – now the local population still needs to be
The FMO development bank is proud of its results and the opportunities it seizes where commercial banks fail to act. But do the bank's actions really help, ask Anne de Jonghe and Nick Middeldorp.
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News / 7 April 2025
Food forest Ketelbroek: where food production and biodiversity come together
When Both ENDS-colleagues visit partners, they often go on a "field trip" to see how our joint work affects people and communities. This year, we did the same in the Netherlands. Food forestry pioneer Wouter van Eck demonstrates a group of Both ENDS partners how regenerative agriculture can offer solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.
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Publication / 1 April 2025
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Blog / 31 March 2025
International cooperation and solidarity are in the interest of both the Netherlands and Africa
Traditional development aid keeps Africa in a state of aid dependency, but development cooperation is essential to break this post-colonial dependency, argues Melvin van der Veen in response to an interview in NRC Handelsblad with the Cameroonian economist Célestin Monga. By breaking off this cooperation on the basis of equality, we are actually stifling the voices of African civil society organisations, indigenous communities, youth and women's movements and human rights defenders, and we are not solving global problems.
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External link / 28 March 2025
Eerlijke handel en gelijkwaardige relaties: pas dán kan Kenia echt op eigen benen staan
This op-ed is available in Dutch.
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Blog / 27 March 2025
Fair trade and equal partnerships: only then can Kenya stand on its own
Several media outlets, including de Volkskrant, focused last week on the shift from “aid” to “trade,” partly in response to the state visit of the Dutch royal couple to Kenya. The idea is that it would be beneficial for Kenya to stand on its own two feet. A beautiful ideal—one I whole heartedly believe in. But this ideal can only become a reality if equality is at the heart of trade and international cooperation.
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News / 25 March 2025
Urgent call to Shell: Don’t leave the Niger Delta without cleaning up decades of pollution
Last week, Shell reported that it officially completed the sale of its on-shore oil assets in the Niger Delta, leaving behind a vast oil pollution caused by 70 years of oil extraction in the region.
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Letter / 25 March 2025
Letter to Shell's CEO and plc Executive Committee: don’t leave the Niger Delta without cleaning up
Today, on Shell Capital Markets Day 2025, Both ENDS together with 195 international and Nigerian of civil society organisations is sending an open letter to Shell’s Executive Committee demanding a full cleanup of the SPDC pollution legacy and transparency on the cleanup process.
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News / 21 March 2025
Dutch Royal couple visits Thogoto Forest: a green oasis on the outskirts of Nairobi
This week, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima visited Thogoto Forest as part of their state visit to Kenya. They were able to see the impact of the work of our partner MCDI in the area: a restored forest, clean water and farmers who can earn a living by selling their agro-ecological products.
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News / 18 March 2025
Abuses surrounding TotalEnergies‘ LNG project in Mozambique are piling up; Dutch support irresponsible
On Friday 14 March, the French Public Prosecutor's Office announced that it would launch an official investigation into TotalEnergies’ involvement in involuntary manslaughter during the attacks on Palma, the location of their LNG project. This umpteenth abuse makes it clear that the Netherlands cannot in any way provide public support for this project.
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Event / 12 March 2025, 09:30 - 11:15
The Conflict, Gender, Climate Nexus: Localized understanding and policy recommendations
Across the world, women lead efforts to advance peace, gender and environmental justice. From the Philippines to Mozambique, Burkina Faso to Brazil, they face a deadly convergence of violence, environmental destruction, and extractivist land grabs. As corporate interests, state forces or other armed actors expand into their territories, entire communities are displaced, criminalized, or subjected to violent repression. At the same time, worsening climate disasters further erode their means of survival, exacerbating food insecurity, water shortages, forced migration and gendered inequalities.