Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues to be integrated into Dutch Delta Planning

Both ENDS, together with nine other parties has expressed their concern on the development of a new airport off the coast in Manila Bay, Philippines, where the Dutch company Royal Boskalis Westminster has been contracted for the land development. In a joint letter of concern, different organisations and stakeholders describe the alarming situation around this contested airport that will be built on newly reclaimed land.

Guest blog

Saturday morning, call time at the office is five o'clock. The group of ten people arriving is still half asleep. Like almost every weekend Kalikasan PNE, the organisation where I'm conducting my internship, organizes a field trip. Today, we will we visit one of the fisher communities in Bulakan, where the new airport of Manila is planned.

An increasing number of stakeholders in the Dutch water sector are acknowledging the importance of an inclusive approach to climate adaptation. However, where our knowledge institutes and companies are involved in delta plans and master plans, as in Bangladesh and the Philippines, this approach is proving difficult to apply in practice. Taking local realities, vulnerabilities and inequalities – such as those between men and women – as a starting point is essential for good plans that give everyone the opportunity to adapt to climate change.

Yesterday, Global Witness published a new report, "Sunk Costs" - in which I had a modest role to play - that comes up with new facts about the disastrous New Manila International Airport project in the Philippines, for which the Dutch dredging multinational Boskalis received Dutch export credit insurance (ekv) of €1.5 billion.

We are shocked and alarmed by the news of a planned raid into the headquarters of an environmental organisation in the Philippines. Although the raid has not materialised until now, we are deeply concerned for their wellbeing.

Manila Bay is crucial site for biodiversity and home to over 23 million people, but their wellbeing is at risk due to reclamation projects, which are part of a large-scale top-down masterplan for the bay. It is estimated that more than 11 million people are threatened with displacement due to land reclamations and related disaster risks. As an alternative, Kalikasan is developing a People's Plan.

The ocean emerged strengthened from the UN Ocean Conference in Nice. More countries are supporting a ban on deep-sea mining, more marine protected areas are being established, and more pledges are being made to fight pollution. The question now is whether countries will follow through on their commitments. Because the ocean movement faces a camp of powerful interests.

This article was originally posted in Dutch on MO*Magazine.

In Manila Bay, a vulnerable coastal area next to the Philippine capital city, a new airport is being planned, with involvement of the Dutch water sector. Local civil society organisations raised their concerns about this airport, which has large impact on the lives of local residents and on the ecosystem.

This week several Both ENDS colleagues visit Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal to meet Christine Teunissen and Luc Stultiens with partners from Mozambique, Indonesia and the Filippines to talk about the destructiveness of dredging worldwide and especially in projects with the aid of the Dutch government.

Read their plea

Both ENDS expresses its profound concern over the recent decision by the Philippines Court of Appeals to deny legal protection to Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano against unlawful harassment and reprisals from state forces. Castro and Jhed are two young environmental human rights defenders who were violently abducted by Filipino armed forces in September 2023, for almost 17 days, in a case that made international headlines. The two women had been working as community organizers in Northern Manila Bay, where large-scale land reclamation's have wreaked havoc on communities and ecosystems.

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).

We congratulate Joan Carling, member of the permanent commission on indigenous peoples of the UN, for having received the Lifetime Achievement Award as 'Champion of the Earth' by the UN Environment! This is the UN's highest environmental honor, given to six of the world's most outstanding environmental change makers once a year.

Dredging Destruction: Report reveals how Dutch dredging companies are systematically destroying human lives and the environment around the world with the help of taxpayers’ money

The Netherlands is providing billions of euros in support for dredging projects by Boskalis and Van Oord around the world. All of these projects are destroying human lives and the environment. The Dutch government’s policy to protect people and planet is failing systemically. And after twelve years of studies and talking, there are no real improvements. It is time for a thorough clean-up of government support for the dredging sector.

This op-ed was published in Dutch newspaper Trouw on the  3rd of February this year

Abuses committed during the construction of an airport in the Philippines show the urgent need for legislation on corporate social responsibility here in the Netherlands, say Murtah Shannon of Both ENDS and Maartje Hilterman of IUCN NL on behalf of a coalition of Dutch and Philippine organisations.

We are shocked and alarmed by the news that the Philippine government has declared a list of 600 people to be communist terrorists. On the list are mostly indigenous leaders, environmental activists and human rights defenders. Among them are some of our partners, and we are deeply worried about them and the other people on this list.

Mining often has a huge and devastating impact on the environment, including water, air and forests. It can profoundly affect nearby communities, not only by harming local ecosystems, but also by exacerbating or provoking societal tension. In many places across the globe, women are leading resistance to mining and the 'extractivist' model.

A Dutch economic trade mission is visiting Indonesia from the 21^st to the 24^th of November.  Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who heads the mission, is accompanied by Minister Ploumen (Foreign Trade and Development), Minister Schultz van Haegen and State Secretary Dijksma (Infrastructure and Environment).