Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development

GENEVA/UTRECHT, 12 May 2026 – A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development, warns that global demand for sand is exceeding ecological limits. Large-scale extraction of sand from marine and coastal ecosystems is leading to biodiversity loss, damage to coastal communities and increasing risks in an era of climate change. Dutch dredging companies play a prominent role in this as global market leaders in large-scale sand extraction and land reclamation. “Our analyses show that the dredging sector operates globally within a system in which ecological damage and the consequences for coastal communities are systematically underestimated, whilst transparency and effective oversight are often lacking,” says the Dutch environmental and human rights organisation Both ENDS, which contributed to the report.

Global Witness and Both ENDS strongly condemn the reported of harassment and surveillance by the Armed Forces of the Philippines of environmental activists and fishing communities in Navotas, Philippines. Pamalakaya-Pilipinas, a National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organisation in the Philippines, has received credible reports that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are engaged in “red-tagging” their members. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Netherlands is a major player in the global water sector, but our investments can quite often lead to human rights violations and environmental problems in the countries where they are made. What can a new Dutch government do to reduce the Netherlands’ footprint beyond our borders? Ellen Mangnus spoke to various experts about this issue: today, part 3.

Water is literally life, the lifeblood of ecosystems, of nature, of humans. However, in many places the distribution and use of water is unjust and unsustainable. Water management is generally focused on short-term economic interests, on maximizing the profit of a well-connected few at the expense of people and nature. This dominant view of water and water management has its origins in the European industrial revolution, which became the global norm through colonialism and globalization. But according to Melvin van der Veen and Murtah Shannon, water experts at Both ENDS, this view will have to give way to equitable, sustainable and inclusive water management. Both ENDS cooperates with and supports communities and organisations worldwide who are working to this end.

Academics and civil society representatives from around the world came together to articulate an alternative vision and framework for water governance, in the run-up to the UN Water Conference 2023 in New York. The Transformative Water Pact was developed in response to the continued exploitation of nature, neglect of human rights and the extreme power-imbalances that characterize contemporary water governance throughout the world. It details an alternative vision of water governance based on the tenets of environmental justice, equality and care.

These past weeks we have been joining the #WeWomenAreWater campaign to put the spotlights on just climate solutions of and for women, girls, trans, intersex and non-binary people around the world. The campaign started on International Women's Day (March 8th) and ends today, on World Water Day. Just climate solutions already exist but these initiatives are grossly underfunded, and the people implementing them are also those most impacted by climate change and climate-related water scarcity. Therefore, we would like to highlight, especially today on World Water Day, some of these solutions below. And we also have a special message from the colleagues at Both ENDS working on inclusive water governance.