Photo blog - In June, I travelled to Indonesia with our partner organization Puanifesto to research the impacts of nickel mining in East Sulawesi. On July 13th, the news broke that the European Union and Indonesia have reached a political agreement on a free trade agreement that was years in the making, called the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Nickel from Sulawesi is already being used in European cars. This makes it all the more important that we ensure that human and environmental rights are secured in mining and refining operations in Indonesia, before the road is opened to more extraction and exploitation for the European market. The conversations we have had with communities and workers on East Sulawesi show that more binding regulations are necessary to make this happen and ensure an energy transition that is socially and environmentally just.

Following Both ENDS & Kebekatche Women Development & Research Centre participation in Shell’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and a formal follow-up in writing, the response received from Shell plc raises more questions than it answers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

By Carolina de Moura

Six years ago, Brumadinho tailings dam I, from the Paraopeba Complex, owned by mining company Vale, collapsed. January 25th, 2019, forever changed the lives of thousands. The scars remain open, and the quest for justice, remembrance, and prevention of future mining crimes endures despite all adversities. This was manslaughter coupled with socio-environmental devastation of proportions difficult to measure. These are irreparable losses and damages that could have been avoided if it wasn’t for the greed, negligence, and irresponsibility of decision-makers at Vale, the German certification firm Tüv Süd, and the state of Minas Gerais.

At the core of the Fair, Green, and Global (FGG) Alliance’s mission is the commitment to building a just and sustainable world. As members of this alliance, Both ENDS, SOMO, and the Transnational Institute (TNI) recognise the urgent need to reimagine global investment frameworks. These frameworks, entrenched in outdated treaties such as Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), often prioritise corporate profits over human rights, environmental sustainability, and social justice.