The foreign financiers of Argentina's lithium rush: Export credit agencies' support for lithium mining

THE HAGUE/CABO DELGADO, December 1, 2025 - Today, Minister of Finance Eelco Heinen announced that TotalEnergies is withdrawing from a $640 million Dutch export credit insurance policy for a controversial gas project in Mozambique. Although the Dutch government has been avoiding this decision for years, this move has finally ended part of the Dutch involvement in this disastrous project.

With great pride, Both ENDS launches today it’s new strategy for the coming 5 years: “Connecting people for an environmentally just world”. This strategy was developed in close collaboration with our partner network, which has always been, and still is, the foundation of our work. Together, we strive for an environmentally just world in which people and ecosystems thrive and all people can live a life of dignity.

On September 23th the European Union and Indonesia concluded their negotiations of the EU-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a free trade agreement between the EU and Indonesia. Both ENDS condemns this agreement for favoring corporate interests over those of local communities and the environment.

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.

Across Mozambique, land represents more than just territory. It is the cornerstone of livelihoods, culture, and autonomy for many communities. When companies arrive, claiming large portions for mining, oil exploration or agribusiness, residents face significant challenges in asserting their rights. Mozambique’s Land Law (1997) grants communities user rights, ensuring they can occupy and use land for subsistence and cultural purposes.

This FCDO-supported project, part of the GAGGA programme, brought together 6 women-led community-based organisations from around the world to explore how they navigate the combined challenges of climate change, gender inequality, and conflict. Through a Feminist Participatory Action Research approach, the organisations documented strategies ranging from land rights advocacy to climate-resilient agriculture, highlighting how extractive industries, militarisation, and patriarchal systems drive exclusion and insecurity. Their findings are now informing donors and policymakers on the need to support grassroots women’s leadership. In the following interview, the project lead shares more about the research, key insights, and its broader impact.

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.

Last week, GAGGA, the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action, with Both ENDS as one of the Alliance members, together with FCAM and Mama Cash, organised its Global Meeting in Indonesia. The goal of this meeting was to recognise, celebrate and look ahead at cross-movement and cross-regional connections, to strengthen the collective power of gender, climate and environmental justice movements.