Suape, Brazil: a stone in the pond
The successes of Both ENDS’ work are usually the result of prolonged efforts. The same goes for our endeavours in Suape, Brazil. This week, Wiert Wiertsema and a representative from partner-organisation SOMO took off to Brazil to support another milestone. Around thirty parties from different states in the country, including environmental organisations, lawyers and of course, representatives of the Forum Suape as well, gathered in the port. This shows that the social movement that has risen as a reaction to the disastrous expansion of the port and industrialisation is also slowly taking shape elsewhere in Brazil. The saga of Suape seems to have become a stone cast in the pond of Brazilian environmental politics.
The event will play an important role in encouraging collaborations between Brazilian civil society organisations dealing with similar situations. Both ENDS and SOMO are co-organising and co-financing a workshop which is to be given during the meeting. It is likely that delegates of the Dutch dredging company Van Oord, which has in Suape, will also be present.
What will be happening in Suape this week?
Wiert Wiertsema: “This week will be about exchanging information, about Suape as well as similar environmental and human rights problems in Rio de Janeiro, and in the states of Rio Grande and Ceará. We will inform each other about the responsibility of companies and investors, about UN guidelines for companies and human rights, OECD rules, and the private investment institution of the World Bank, the IFC. Afterwards, we will give a briefing about how different complaints mechanisms at investment banks and credit insurers work. This will be practiced as well.”
What is the status quo in Suape?
“Petrobas’ oil refinery in the port of Suape has almost been finished. Officially, the refinery should be ready to operate at the start of 2015. However, the costs have risen to US$20 billion, while initially a mere US$2,5 billion had been calculated as sufficient. It seems that nepotism and corruption are behind this huge rise in expenditure. The current president, Dilma Rousseff, was the highest in charge at Petrobas during the procurement of the refinery. That is why this affair will be a heavy burden for her during the upcoming elections. Also, tens of thousands of immigrant workers from different parts of Brazil have worked on the construction of the refinery. But since the work is essentially done, these workers have been fired. And as usual, of course, not many employment opportunities are readily available in the region. In short, a huge unemployment problem has arisen in Suape.”
And what about Van Oord?
“Although the oil refinery is almost finished, it is uncertain whether it will be operational as of next year. The reason is that the dredging work, which should result in an access channel to the port of Suape, has not been finalised by Van Oord. Large oil tankers that are expected to arrive cannot yet enter the port whilst transporting oil. As a result, a claim of €40 million has been filed. Van Oord is expecting to see a new procurement after the elections, so that dredging can be finished. The company would like to take part again because they feel they have the best know-how. My answer to the question of whether any payments have been made, was no. According to Van Oord, that should be dealt with by the credit insurance company Atradius DSB.”
Read more about the developments in Suape
Read more about this subject
-
News / 12 August 2022
In Memoriam: Sandra Smithey
This week we heard the sad news from Flint, Michigan, that Sandra Smithey has passed away. Sandra was for many years our pillar of support at the CS Mott Foundation. The foundation has supported the work of Both ENDS and of partners like Casa Fund and the NGO Forum on the ADB for more than 20 years, both financially and with its wide-ranging knowledge. One of Sandra’s ambitions was to make international money flows, such as development funding via the World Bank but also, for example, export credit insurance, fairer and more sustainable.
-
Press release / 8 August 2022
Indigenous knowledge and languages crucial in the fight against climate change
Amsterdam, 8 August 2022 – In most countries around the world, the extensive knowledge of Indigenous peoples on nature, food, health, cultural traditions and Indigenous languages receives insufficient appreciation and attention in education and policy. The Indigenous-Led Education (ILED) Network believes that this must change. To mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on 9 August, the ILED Network is calling for more support for the transfer of this Indigenous knowledge, which also plays a major role in resolving the biodiversity and climate crises.
-
Publication / 7 July 2022
-
Letter / 30 June 2022
Open letter to the European Commission concerning plant variety rights in the Free Trade Agreement with Indonesia
Today, almost 90 organisations and networks from around the world, including Both ENDS, sent a letter to the European Commission to urge the EU to stop including UPOV91 in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The main objective of UPOV91 is to further erode traditional seeds rights and to regulate local seed markets in the interest of internationally operating seed companies.
This matter is urgent because currently, the EU and Indonesia are negotiating an FTA. Including UPOV91 in this FTA means that Indonesia will have to change its policies, which will take away the farmers' rights to:
- breed, save and exchange all seeds and other planting material
- participate in decisions concerning seed improvement/ breeding, selection, quality standards, pricing, production, distribution and diversity
- customary practice especially in regard to indigenous seed
- be protected from being sold fake and inappropriate seed
- have a true choice between the use of certified and seed from fellow farmer managed seed systems. -
Press release / 30 June 2022
Civil society calls upon EU and Indonesia to respect the rights of Indonesia’s farmers
89 NGOs and farmers' organisations from Indonesia, the EU and around the world sent open letters to the EU Commission and the Indonesian government today, calling on them to refrain from any clause that restrict farmers' rights in a future free trade agreement.
-
Letter / 30 June 2022
Open letter to the Indonesian Government concerning plant variety rights in the Free Trade Agreement with Indonesia
On behalf of almost 90 CSO's and networks including Both ENDS, IGJ has sent a letter to the Indonesian government about the free trade agreement with the European Union. In this agreement, the EU pushes Indonesia to align its plant variety protection laws with UPOV 91, which would threaten farmers' access to seeds, food souvereignty and agrobiodiversity. The main objective of UPOV91 is to further erode traditional seeds rights and to regulate local seed markets in the interest of internationally operating seed companies.Including UPOV91 in this FTA means that Indonesia will have to change its policies, which will take away the farmers' rights to:
- breed, save and exchange all seeds and other planting material
- participate in decisions concerning seed improvement/ breeding, selection, quality standards, pricing, production, distribution and diversity
- customary practice especially in regard to indigenous seed
- be protected from being sold fake and inappropriate seed
- have a true choice between the use of certified and seed from fellow farmer managed seed systemsThe joint organisations therefore call upon the Indonesian government to resist the ask of the EU to comply with UPOV 91.
-
News / 28 June 2022
In solidarity with daughter of murdered Indigenous leader
On Tuesday 28 June, the Honduran organisation COPINH and the Global Justice Association filed a complaint with the public prosecutor in the Netherlands against Dutch development bank FMO. For COPINH, this is part of their continued efforts to bring to justice those involved in the murder of their leader Berta Cáceres. FMO financed the Agua Zarca project in Honduras in 2014. The new complaint is based on documents indicating that FMO's money has been used improperly.
-
Event / 19 June 2022, 12:30
"Stop Fossil Finance" block Climate March
Still, more funds are spent on the fossil industry than on sustainable solutions. Banks, pension funds, insurers and governments keep investing in fossil infrastructure which endangers people and the environment. Therefore we call on financial institutions to stop funding the climate crisis.
Join our "Stop Fossil Finance" block at the next climate march!
-
External link / 15 June 2022
Open letter to Trade Ministers at the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Joint CSO call to all WTO Trade Ministers to not accept the current draft of Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement and demand a real Waiver
-
Event / 14 June 2022, 15:00 - 16:30
Empowering civil society and communities through open land data
Both ENDS and the Land Portal Foundation invite you to the second webinar in the Whose Land? Inclusive Pathways to Land Governance series, which will focus on the opportunities and constraints of civil society organizations (CSOs) and local communities in advocating for more open land data and in harnessing its power for improved land governance.
-
News / 13 June 2022
The WTO and intellectual property rights: what it means for us
Intellectual property law is regulated at various levels around the world. At the international level, intellectual property rights are mainly laid down within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in trade agreements. But what does this in practice mean for us? With this infographic, we've visualized what happens when a holder of intellectual property rights - usually a big company - thinks his rights are being violated.
-
Dossier
Uganda’s Energy Future
Despite the existence of many hydropower dams, foreign investments and large government spending on energy, and new plans for hydropower, oil and gas projects, the vast majority of rural Uganda still remains without electricity. Together with our local partners we are striving towards a sustainable energy strategy for Uganda that starts from the needs and wishes of local communities.
-
News / 10 June 2022
FMO fails to meet best practices on financial intermediaries
In a new Position Statement on Financial Intermediary (FI) Lending, Dutch development bank FMO argues for limited responsibility over the outcomes investments that are channeled through commercial banks, investment funds, and other financial intermediaries, representing by far the bigger sector of its portfolio. In doing so, FMO is undermining its development mission, including the protection of human rights and addressing the climate crisis. FMO intends to delegate these key responsibilities to its FI clients only, falling short of best practices of peer financial institutions. In a joint submission prepared by Both ENDS, Oxfam Novib, Recourse and SOMO, we argue that FMO can do much more to ensure the protection of human rights, the environment, and to measure the development impact of its indirect investments.
-
Letter / 10 June 2022
Joint submission on FMO’s Position Statement on Financial Intermediaries
Both ENDS, SOMO, Oxfam Novib and Recourse sent in a submission to FMO's public consultation on its Position Statement on Financial Intermediaries. In this position statement, FMO only takes limited responsibility for the consequences of its investments through so-called financial intermediaries. We call upon FMO to publish a position statement that focuses on protecting human rights and the environment and take full responsibility for this.
-
Letter / 9 June 2022
Appeal to the FAO to rescind the FAO partnership with CropLife
Pesticide Action Network and 430 civil society and indigenous peoples organizations from 69 countries have sent a letter of concern to the 170th session of FAO council about the FAO partnership agreement with CropLife International.
CropLife International is a global trade association whose members are the world's largest agrichemical, pesticide and seed companies: BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Corteva Agriscience, FMC Corporation, Sumitomo Chemical and Syngenta. The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) en CropLife International have started a partnership in 2020 to collaborate on pesticide use. We think that this partnership is incompatible with FAO's obligations to uphold human rights, directly counters any efforts toward progressively banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides, and undercuts the FAO and several Member States' support for agroecology and other transformative practices.
The letter asks the Council to review and end immediately the partnership agreement with CropLife International.
-
News / 9 June 2022
Burghard Ilge and Fernando Hernandez: "This WTO conference will be more important than ever"
This week, Geneva will be the epicenter of world trade, as trade ministers and other representatives from around the world gather for the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference. Liesje Schreinemacher, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, is present with a delegation. Our colleague Burghard Ilge is joining as an official member of the delegation, to represent civil society organisations. Colleague Fernando Hernandez will also travel to Geneva, to follow and try to influence the negotiations from outside the conference room together with other civil society organisations from around the world.
-
Event / 28 May 2022, 13:00 - 14:15
Afrikadag: Future of food and farming in Africa: the role for small-scale agroecological food production
Join us this Saturday the 28th of May for an inpiring session about the role of agro-ecology in the trasformation to a future proof food and farming system on the African continent (and beyond).
-
Blog / 27 May 2022
Divest from EACOP before it’s too late
and Abigail Kyomuhendo*
This week the annual shareholder meeting (AGM) of TotalEnergies took place. Whilst the shareholders celebrated their profits, Ugandan people were being evicted from their lands, thousands of kilometers away, for Total's East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). -
Press release / 25 May 2022
Award of export support for controversial project in Manilla undermines the Netherlands’ environmental and CSR ambitions
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).
-
News / 19 May 2022
Response to government’s letter to parliament on implementation of the Glasgow Declaration
Both ENDS and 95 other organisations* today sent a letter to State Secretary for Finance Marnix van Rij and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher calling on them to implement the Glasgow Declaration in full. In this agreement, which the Netherlands and 33 other countries signed at the Glasgow climate conference, the signatory countries pledge to stop all public funding for fossil projects by the end of 2022.