News

Coalition: Repair the damage and dare to go further

At Both ENDS, we see a number of cautious steps in the right direction in this coalition agreement. There is a slight emphasis on green issues, renewed attention to women's rights, recognition of the importance of civil society, and discussion of trade agreements with a focus on mutual interests. However, without structural change in how we trade, invest, and cooperate, fine words remain empty shells.

Seven years ago, the dam owned by mining company Vale collapsed in Brumadinho, Brazil, killing 272 people and severely polluting the surrounding area. While the relatives of the victims commemorate them and fight for justice, the pollution continues.

Shell is suing the Netherlands in yet another attempt to evade its responsibility for decades of gas extraction in Groningen. For years, gas production has triggered earthquakes, damaged over a hundred thousand homes, and left residents living in prolonged insecurity, still waiting for repairs, reinforcement, and justice.

TEGUCIGALPA/UTRECHT, January 12, 2026 – The murder of indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres, which took place almost 10 years ago in Honduras, appears to be the result of an organized criminal operation, in which funds from the Dutch Development Bank FMO were misappropriated to finance illegal activities. This is the conclusion of the investigation report published today by the independent commission set up by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Honduran state, and the relatives of Berta Cáceres.

For years, FMO was a major financier of the Agua Zarca project. Berta Cáceres, an indigenous leader, fought against this controversial dam and was murdered for that reason in March 2016.

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.

Local communities in the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh—together with an international consortium including Uttaran, CEGIS, and Both ENDS—have presented a community-led plan to confront climate change and accelerating sea-level rise through nature-based adaptation. The People’s Plan for Upscaling Ecosystem-Based Adaptation outlines a scalable strategy rooted in local ownership and generations of lived experience. At its centre is Community-Based Tidal River Management (CBTRM), a proven approach that reduces waterlogging, raises land elevation, and restores ecological balance by working with natural tidal and sediment dynamics.

A coalition of Malaysian and international NGOs has released a memorandum in response to the recent TPAC report on the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS). The organizations express serious concerns about the independence, quality, and credibility of the assessment carried out by the Timber Procurement Assessment Committee (TPAC).

SOMO and Both ENDS strongly condemn the newly revealed investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case filed by Petrogas, an Omani oil and gas company operating two shallow-water gas fields in the Dutch North Sea, against the Netherlands under the Netherlands-Oman bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions and the mechanisms that facilitate this, including those for farmer-led restoration. Furthermore, the organisation participates to ensure the crucial connection between the climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.

Learn more about the Both ENDS team at COP30 below, and find all the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.

Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions, and for the mechanisms that make these possible, including those supporting farmer-led restoration. The organisation also engages to highlight the crucial connection between climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.

Below is an overview of the Both ENDS team at COP30 and a detailed look at the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.

The updated complaint mechanism of the development banks FMO, DEG, and Proparco marks an important step forward. Organizations that participated in the consultation acknowledge the efforts to improve the mechanism. At the same time, they emphasize that much still needs to be done to make the policy truly effective, transparent, and independent.