Defending the Amazon is a defining battle of our time and has the potential to shift the balance towards justice, ecological balance and the recognition of our interdependence on nature and living systems. In this year's Amazon in Focus, we share stories from this struggle.
CNN | Bolivian indigenous leaders vow to keep fighting a road project through a national park on their ancestral homeland even though President Evo Morales said he would suspend construction pending a national dialogue.
A protest march by Bolivian indigenous peoples turned violent on Sunday as 500 Bolivian police tear-gassed, fired upon with rubber bullets, and beat protesters.
ChevronInEcuador.com | Today, DiNapoli escalated his public effort to demand Chevron seek an equitable settlement with the Amazonian communities over the oil giant's devastation of their rainforest lands.
Huffington Post | Since taking office as New York State Comptroller four years ago, I have asked Chevron's board of directors to settle this marathon litigation and spare the company's battered reputation any further damage. The board has chosen to ignore the wishes of the many investors and observers who supported my call.
Tomorrow Amazon Watch will be holding a fundraising luncheon celebrating its 15 years as a leader of innovative engagement in the Amazon rainforest environmental movement.
Sheyla traveled from the heart of the Amazon to share what's happening in Altamira, the city that will be partially flooded if the Belo Monte Dam is built.
On September 6th, Peru's president signed landmark legislation that requires the government to consult with indigenous peoples on issues that affect their lives, territories and rights.
This report explores risks faced by Ivanhoe Energy investors from the Pungarayacu project, as well as those stemming from the company's history and questionable fiduciary management.
Tensions are rising in Bolivia, between indigenous President Evo Morales and indigenous communities of the the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory, known as TIPNIS for its Spanish acronym. The Government has proposed to build a road straight through the Territory, with financing from the Brazil National Development Bank.
New York, NY – Chevron engaged in a clandestine lobbying campaign of Ecuador's government to improperly shut down the historic environmental case brought by thousands of indigenous persons, according to a series of cables written by U.S. government officials and recently disclosed by Wikileaks.
ChevronInEcuador.com | Yesterday, a three-judge panel from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a stunning blow to Chevron's abusive and deceitful efforts to evade accountability for its oil disaster in Ecuador.
Yesterday's order from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals brings the oil-ravaged indigenous and rural communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon one step closer to justice after nearly two decades of fighting to hold American oil giant Chevron accountable for the devastation it caused in their rainforest lands.
Loreto, Peru – More than 100 Shuar indigenous people have blockaded the Morona River, disrupting Canadian-based Talisman Energy's exploratory drilling operations in remote oil Block 64 of the Peruvian Amazon.
BBC News | A US court has overturned a block on Ecuadoreans collecting damages totalling $18.2 billion from Chevron over Amazon oil pollution.
Democracy Now! | A U.S. appeals court has ruled oil giant Chevron cannot escape an $18 billion fine for massive pollution of the Amazon rain forest.
San Francisco Chronicle | Ecuadorans suing Chevron Corp. over pollution in the Amazon rain forest are one step closer to collecting a $9.5 billion judgment against the San Ramon company.
Associated Press | New York – A federal appeals court vacated an order Monday by a New York judge that barred an $18 billion judgment in Ecuador against Chevron Inc. for contaminating the Amazon. The Ecuadorean plaintiffs blamed the oil company Texaco, a subsidiary of Chevron since 2001, for environmental contamination and illnesses resulting from its...
DW-World | Defending sacred sites and the environment can land you in jail for being a terrorist, according to indigenous activists in Ecuador. "There are about 200 cases against indigenous activists, campesinos, mextizos and other leaders," according to Pepe Acacho, Vice President of CONAIE, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities in Ecuador.
As world leaders gather in New York to discuss the planet's most pressing issues, venerated Brazilian indigenous leader Sheyla Juruna will be in New York to urge President Dilma Rousseff to choose clean renewable energy alternatives to meet Brazil's growing energy needs.
The Guardian | Victims of what they say is one the world's worst environmental disasters will on Friday ask a New York court to free up billions of dollars in compensation awarded to them in a record ruling earlier this year – and oust the judge who blocked their claim.
The Guardian | Against the wider backdrop of a struggle that pits the ancestral owners of untapped natural resources against greedy governments and corporations, Peru's new law on the right of indigenous people to prior consultation may set a regional precedent in avoiding lengthy legal battles and, more importantly, in the prevention and reduction of social...
DW-World | When completed, the Belo Monte project is expected to have a capacity of 11,000 megawatts, putting it behind China's Three Gorges Dam and the Itaipú Dam along the border between Brazil and Paraguay. But scientists say dams, especially those in the tropics, actually produce so much methane that they may not be any "cleaner" than power from fossil...
AFP | Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon increased by 15 percent during the past 12 months, the National Institute for Space Research said.
New York, NY – A new report based on U.S. government data and independent surveys demonstrates conclusively that Ecuador's court system ranks better than most of its neighbors in Latin America and provides impartial tribunals to litigants, clearly undermining Chevron's claims that an $18 billion judgment against it for environmental damage from...
This is the full version of "A Message from Pandora", a special feature produced by James Cameron about the battle to stop the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu, one of the great tributaries of the Amazon River.
New York, NY – Ecuadorian indigenous residents are accusing a New York federal judge of improperly allowing Chevron to re-litigate an eight-year pollution trial that it lost to help bail out the company from a potential $18 billion clean-up liability, according to legal papers filed in recent days in New York federal court.
Financial Times | A fight over deforestation poses a test for a president struggling to control an unruly coalition – and for a leading agricultural exporter.
Mongabay.com | Protesters in dozens of cities demanded Brazil abandon a plan to build a dam on one of the Amazon's largest tributaries, reports Amazon Watch, an NGO that helped organize the events.
