Quito, Ecuador – Environmentalists occupied the lobby of Ecuador's Environmental Ministry on Tuesday to protest a pending environmental license that would open the Ishpingo oil field inside the world-renowned Yasuní National Park.
All: 2018
Indigenous Federation to GeoPark: Peru Project a Big Risk
Achuar reaffirm resistance to GeoPark in new video released ahead of oil company’s annual shareholder meeting Friday
San Lorenzo, Peru – A federation of indigenous communities deep in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest affirmed its rejection of planned oil operations in its ancestral territory ahead of Friday's annual shareholder meeting of GeoPark.
Visionary “Living Forest” Proposal to Be Launched by Kichwa People of Sarayaku in Ecuador
Proposal for New International Category of Forest and Rights Protection to Be Presented to Government Officials and International Dignitaries
The Kichwa People of Sarayaku will officially launch its Kawsak Sacha, (Living Forest) proposal in Ecuador this July 2018 with a four-day exhibition and conference in Quito that will showcase Sarayaku's way of life, culture, and vision and will involve a formal presentation to the Ecuadorian government and international dignitaries.
Join Us on September 8th to RISE for the Climate!
On September 8th, Amazon Watch staff, Ecuadorian indigenous leaders, and hundreds of thousands of people around the world will rise to demand that our elected leaders take real climate action to get us off of fossil fuels in speedy and equitable fashion.
CalPERS Investment Policy Change a Win for Indigenous Peoples
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has quietly approved extensive changes to its Governance and Sustainability Principles, including a ground-breaking recognition of the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). CalPERS, the largest public pension in the U.S with $356 billion in assets under...
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
The Last Guardians: A Must-Watch Film Highlights the Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice
Now available for download and streaming, The Last Guardians takes viewers to the Ecuadorian Amazon to further understand the struggle of indigenous community members as they defend their land and culture against the threats they face from extractive industries.
Brazil’s Political Storm Driving Amazon Deforestation Higher
Mongabay | Many experts aren't surprised by these land-grabber assaults, even though the Apyterewa preserve lies within the area of influence of the giant Belo Monte dam built on the Xingu River, and even though one of the conditions for the dam's construction, agreed to in 2010, was that the government protect this territory and evict all illegal intruders...
The Shiwiar Nation of Ecuador Raises Its Voice Against Oil Drilling in Its Territory
"It was not a consultation, they came only with offers that we know are false. We were not in any way consulted as our rights say. As Shiwiar we had already spoken out against this project of oil exploitation and since we also opposed this supposed consultation, hydrocarbons entered our territory using indigenous people living in the city. "
Government Crackdown on Illegal Amazon Gold Mining Could Backfire for Brazil’s Munduruku
The rights and safety of Indigenous communities must be protected from these threats as well as their territory
"Once again, the [police] operation did not do its work." Given the grave socio-environmental impacts of organized crime in the Amazon, the Brazilian government must reign in local mafias, be they miners, loggers, or land grabbers. However, it cannot do this with isolated actions, nor by allowing its informants – in this case imperiled indigenous...
Letter to Ecuadorian President Moreno in Support of the Sapara Nation
We write you to express our support for the Sapara Nation and for their demand for an end to any and all oil activities in their territory, whether now or in the future.
Earth Defenders Risk Life and Limb to Protect the Amazon Rainforest
This World Rainforest Day, we're honoring the indigenous Earth Defenders who are risking life and limb every day. Ecuador, in particular, is a dangerous place to be an Earth Defender. In addition to criminalization – baseless criminal charges used to silence dissent – more and more Earth Defenders are being threatened and physically assaulted.
Worldwide Solidarity with Indigenous Leaders Threatened by Chinese Mining Project in Ecuador
This morning in Quito, indigenous, campesino, and civil society organizations delivered an international sign-on letter signed by 132 organizations and individuals to the Chinese embassy expressing concern over Ecuagoldmining, a Chinese mining company allegedly involved in the kidnapping, illegal detainment, violent assault, and assassination...
US/China Trade War Could Boost Brazil Soy Export, Amazon Deforestation
Mongabay | "We are the ones who care for nature," says Alessandra Munduruku, a young Munduruku indigenous leader in the Brazilian Amazon. "It isn't someone coming from on high who's going to teach us about caring for the forest."
Silencing Human Rights and Environmental Defenders
The overuse of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by corporations
CSR and Business Ethics | The saga of cases of litigation initiated by Chevron following serious pollution in the Amazonian region of Ecuador is an infamous illustration of such legal tactic. The serious pollution created by oil spillage has led to a series of multiple country-based legal strategies by Chevron to avoid resp onsibility. After losing a case in Ecuador where...
Award-Winning Film Yasuni Man Screened in LA with Special Guests
The event began with a "green carpet" welcoming, included a special performance by John Densmore of The Doors, and ended with an expert panel discussion
Yasuni Man is an award-winning documentary by filmmaker Ryan Killackey that tells the story of the Waorani people and their ancestral land, which, though one of the most biodiverse forest on earth, is threatened by extractive industries. Obviously, Yasuní National Park and Biosphere Reserve is one of the worst places on the planet to drill for oil...
The “Real Tragedy” in Ecuador
Chevron has dehumanized the people of Ecuador in order to disregard their suffering
In the end, Chevron's unethical legal thuggery will circle back to bite the new CEO Michael Wirth not only because it's based on false evidence and lies, but also because it has exposed him as someone no better than the executives at Texaco who made the fateful decision to deliberately pollute the Amazon in the first place.
Building Power: Telling Stories of Resistance and Resilience to a Global Audience
When Gloria spoke to shareholders, the room paid rapt attention. Many had never heard an indigenous person speak about the impacts that oil drilling and climate change would have on their way of life. An issue that had seemed abstract became real, and the impact of their investment decisions gained a human face. Creating this personal connection...
ENI-AGIP Oil Project Threatens Indigenous Territories in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Indigenous organizations have rejected the company's presence in their territories and an Indigenous leader has been subjected to threats and intimidation
"This attack is a reprisal for the struggle that I've been waging to defend life and our territories against the threat that is still being pushed upon us, fossil fuel exploitation in our territories."
Chevron CEO Challenged to Change Course at Shareholder Meeting
Shareholders and environmental groups called on company to turn page on environmental destruction and rights abuses
San Ramon, CA – At Chevron’s annual general meeting today, institutional shareholders and environmental and human rights organizations representing shareholders presented newly-appointed CEO Michael Wirth with arguments for why he should change course on the company’s history of environmental and social irresponsibility.
Global Campaign Exposes BlackRock for Devastating Climate Impacts of Investments
Campaigners urge CEO Larry Fink to heed his own words and define BlackRock's social purpose
New York, NY – Some of the country's largest environmental and human rights groups issued a challenge to BlackRock at its annual shareholder meeting yesterday, daring the world's largest asset manager to take greater leadership on climate change following ambitious statements by BlackRock's CEO calling on corporations to pursue ends beyond pure...
The Erin Brockoviches of Ecuador
For these women, environmentalism and women's rights are closely linked: Past drilling projects have resulted in increased assaults, cancer, and infertility.
The New Republic | By fighting to protect their traditional land, indigenous women are making an innovative argument that the lives of the people and the wellbeing of the environment are inextricably linked – and a battle for one is a battle for the other.
Statement in Support of the Shipibo Conibo People and the March Against Racism and for Indigenous Dignity in the Peruvian Amazon
The tragic murder of Olivia Arévalo and the Canadian man who killed her in the Peruvian Amazon have unleashed great sadness and a series of xenophobic defamations against the Shipibo Conibo people in mainstream media and on social networks, including from a sitting member of Congress, that have deepened the discrimination and hostility against the...
Amazonian Leaders Call on California to Go Fossil Fuel-Free at Chevron’s Richmond Refinery
Bay Area environmental and Indigenous organizations join protest to call attention to Chevron's key role in causing destruction to people and planet
Richmond, CA – Indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon joined Bay Area allies at Chevron's Richmond Refinery on Thursday morning to call on California's political leadership to phase out oil and gas production and processing in the state, including its importation of crude oil drilled in the Amazon rainforest.
Chase AGM: Dozens of Indigenous and Frontline Community Representatives Call for an End to Bank Financing of Extreme Fossil Fuels
Delegates from Canada to Ecuador and across the U.S. travel to Texas to deliver open letter to Chase shareholders
The quickly growing international campaign pressuring JPMorgan Chase to end its massive funding of extreme fossil fuels continued to escalate today as a delegation representing Indigenous and nonindigenous communities from Canada to Ecuador and across the U.S. gathered at Chase's annual shareholder meeting in Plano, Texas.
Chevron’s SLAPP Suit Against Ecuadorians: Corporate Intimidation
Greenpeace | In perhaps the most vindictive SLAPP in history, Chevron – one of the world's largest corporations, with over $260 billion in assets – found a sympathetic New York judge to accept a RICO lawsuit against the victims of its vast oil pollution in Ecuador's Amazon basin.
Defending Indigenous Lands, Territories, and Resources at the UN
More than 1,000 representatives of indigenous peoples traveled to New York in late April to participate in the 17th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Amazon Watch supported and accompanied Amazonian leaders to call for respect and protection of their lives, cultures, and ancestral territories and an end to the harassment and...
As the U.S. Turns Its Back, Poor Countries Can Expect More Volatile Temperature Swings
Grist | It's not just the U.S. that's welching on its promise. Despite some encouraging signs, says Amazon Watch's Christian Poirier, global action is lacking. "I think a lot of it has to do with environmental racism," Poirier says.
Growing Movement Builds Unity to Defend Indigenous Brazil
Last week's mobilization was a shining example that spirited resistance is alive and well even in the dark days of the presidency of Michel Temer. This resistance provides a critical counterweight to growing repression and environmental devastation and deserves ample support, from local to global levels, to send a firm message to the Brazilian...
The Toxic Mess Under Chevron’s Corporate Veil
A hearing in a critically important case for the future of environmental protection, corporate accountability, and human rights took place in Toronto, Canada last week. At issue was an argument essential to corporate accountability: can individuals harmed by a corporation "pierce the corporate veil" to force it to account for judgements from...
