From asset manager BlackRock to agribusiness giant Bunge, researchers have cited a host of the world's most powerful companies for either allegedly financing or buying from groups that have been implicated in the destruction and deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
All: 2019
New Report: European and North American Companies Support Soy, Cattle, and Timber Companies Responsible for Recent Surge in Amazon Deforestation
A new report from Amazon Watch shows for the first time how firms that fuel the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon under Brazil's new president openly trade with and receive financing from a range of companies and major investors in Europe and North America. Although these producers of soy, cattle, and timber for export have documented links to...
Complicity in Destruction II
As the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon provides 20% of our oxygen, houses 10% of the planet's biodiversity, and helps stabilize the global climate. The world needs it to survive. None understand this better than the indigenous peoples and traditional communities who call it home, and are proven to be its best stewards. Despite their...
Brazil: Indigenous People Rally in Capital to Protest Against Bolsonaro Onslaught
Thousands of indigenous people have descended on Brazil's capital Brasília to protest against a widespread assault on indigenous rights and territories by the government of the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Amazon in Focus 2019 / 2017-2018 Annual Report
Protecting and restoring the Amazon, indigenous rights, and the climate, requires greater unity across movements. Accomplishing the required transition from fossil fuels and protection of indigenous stewards of vital forests is the most urgent task we face today. We hope that you will join us in partnership this year and for many years to come.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Amazon Watch Statement on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and the Use of Market Mechanisms
We cannot simply offset our way to a climate stable world. We need real climate action that addresses the primary cause of climate change: fossil fuel extraction and commodity-driven deforestation, and calls for climate justice.
Amazon Watch Statement on the Suicide of Peruvian Ex-President Alan Garcia
As widely reported by international media, former Peru president Alan García died earlier today after shooting himself at home prior to his arrest for allegedly taking bribes from Brazilian company Odebrecht during his presidency.
Amazon Watch Statement on Canadian Supreme Court’s Refusal to Hear Appeal Regarding Chevron Subsidiary in Enforcement Action
"The Canadian Supreme Court's denial is an affront to the very idea of corporate accountability and a message to anyone seeking justice from corporations responsible for environmental or human rights crimes. It does not, however, grant Chevron any actual victory in the Ecuador matter."
Danger Zone for Peru’s Achuar People
The risk of new oil drilling in Achuar territory is more alarming than it has been since I started with Amazon Watch over twelve years ago. Fortunately, the Achuar are determined to protect their lands and families from contamination and they also benefit from the support of steadfast allies, both Peruvian and international.
Indigenous Groups in Ecuador Convene to Talk Resistance in the Amazon
"The Shiwiar, Sapara and Kichwa nationalities of Kawsak Sacha decide to leave the oil in the subsoil and declare their territories intangible in perpetuity, where it is forbidden to extract non-renewable natural resources. The governments in turn must respect this decision."
Chevron vs Ecuador: International Arbitration and Corporate Impunity
The infamous story of the environmental pollution of the Ecuadorian Amazon by Chevron-Texaco – which has come to be known as the "Ecuadorian Chernobyl" – is entering a new phase
openDemocracy | "Justice as such does not exist, especially when the criminal is a transnational corporation and the victims are indigenous peoples, peasants, or nature."
Twenty Years of Accomplishments
Amazon Watch’s expertise and history as a principled ally to indigenous peoples uniquely positions the organization to help shape the global narrative on why and how we must defend the Amazon.
Connecting the Dots on the Financing of Climate Chaos
Thirty-three of the world's biggest banks have poured a whopping $1.9 trillion into fossil fuels since 2016, and this financing continues to increase every year. That was a key finding of the Banking on Climate Change report, released yesterday by allies including Rainforest Action Network and Indigenous Environmental Network and endorsed by...
Brazil’s New President Threatens “the Lungs of the Planet”
If there is hope for the rainforest, and for countries where authoritarians threaten democracy and progressive agendas, it lies in the determination and power of civil society activists like Sônia Guajajara.
Protecting Indigenous Lands Protects the Environment. Trump and Bolsonaro Threaten Both.
Among the many parallels between their administrations, Bolsonaro and Trump are both taking extreme action to strip the hard-earned rights of indigenous peoples to the benefit of extractive industries and commercial farming. These policies present threats to our communities, the integrity of ecosystems on our lands and the stability of our climate.
GeoPark Fomenting Social Conflicts in Peru’s Amazon
Washington, DC – A detailed new report published by the non-governmental organization Center for Public Policy and Human Rights (Equidad Perú) identifies the oil company GeoPark as responsible for dangerous divide-and-conquer strategies in the Peruvian Amazon. The company is also facing related criticisms of downplaying environmental concerns in...
“We Are Fighting”: Brazil’s Indigenous Groups Unite to Protect Their Land
"A united people will never be defeated!" shouted Maria Betânia Mota, as the indigenous assembly in a partially burned-out agricultural college began. Hundreds of voices roared back in approval.
Emboldened by Bolsonaro, Armed Invaders Encroach on Brazil’s Tribal Lands
Ten days after Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office, dozens of men entered protected indigenous land in a remote corner of the Amazon, hacking a pathway beneath the jungle canopy. Inspired by Bolsonaro's vow to open more native territory to commercial development, the men, armed with machetes, chainsaws and firearms, had come...
Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples Suffer Wave of Invasions and Attacks
Emboldened by the institutional assault upon indigenous rights being waged by the regime of Jair Bolsonaro, rural mafias are organizing an unprecedented wave of land invasions and attacks on native territories and communities. As Brazil's indigenous agency FUNAI is systematically dismantled, with its mandate to title and monitor indigenous lands...
The Green New Deal: More Than Just the Latest Buzzword
We have eleven years. Eleven years to take bold climate action towards a world not powered by fossil fuels. For our indigenous partners fighting oil and gas extraction on their ancestral territories, there is no time to spare: further expansion of this dirty infrastructure will destroy their land, livelihoods, and way of life.
Defending Rights, Building Unity, and Protecting the Amazon Sacred Headwaters
In the remote, roadless rainforest territories along the border between Ecuador and Peru, over a dozen indigenous nationalities have launched an initiative to permanently protect about 60 million acres from industrial extraction and stop the drivers of deforestation. Dubbed the Amazon Sacred Headwaters, the initiative seeks to present a united...
Ecuadorian Indigenous People File Legal Action Over Rainforest Mining Project
The Shuar Indigenous people of Ecuador's southeastern Amazon-Andean corridor took legal action against the government today in Quito over multiple violations of their collective rights related to the San Carlos Panantza mining project.
2018-2019 Achievements and Priorities
The next several years will be critical to advancing rainforest protection, indigenous rights, and solutions to climate change such as clean renewable energy.
Bolsonaro Wants to Plunder the Amazon. Don’t Let Him.
Mr. Bolsonaro's rise to power will test companies' promises to be responsible. Will leading global agribusiness companies be complicit in Mr. Bolsonaro's assault on the Amazon and its people, thus sacrificing their commitments, their reputation and our climate? And will financial institutions like BlackRock heed their own calls for companies to...
If BlackRock Has a Purpose, It’s Not Confronting Climate Change
On Wednesday, we got some incredible news: the CEO of the world's largest investment firm announced he was radically shifting the company's priorities, including moving money out of fossil fuels because they cause climate change and pressuring the companies it owns to align with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Yet soon our cheers turned...
Ecuador’s Corruption Hangover
Despite efforts to curb corruption, President Moreno is following the same oil-stained playbook that helped get Ecuador into a cycle of debt and dependency. He has green-lighted new drilling in Yasuní National Park and plans to open up areas in the country's roadless southern rainforest, still hoping that Ecuador can drill its way to prosperity.
California Split Over Carbon Trading Plan for Tropical Forests
"TFS could allow oil refiners, which are purchasing oil from Ecuador to turn around and buy offset credits from the same regions in Ecuador that have been devastated by oil drilling," said Zoe Cina-Sklar of advocacy group Amazon Watch. Instead of carbon trading, California should curb Amazon crude imports and take immediate measures to wean itself...
Jair Bolsonaro Launches Assault on Amazon Rainforest Protections
"There will be an increase in deforestation and violence against indigenous people," said Dinaman Tuxá, the executive coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous People of Brazil. "Indigenous people are defenders and protectors of the environment."
As President Bolsonaro Takes Power, Brazil’s Indigenous Movement Prepares to Resist
Brazilian social movements and their allies brace for an assault on rights and environmental protections
The inauguration of right-wing zealot Jair Bolsonaro to Brazil's presidency ushers in a dangerous era for human rights, environmental safeguards, and the rule of law in the world's fourth-largest democracy.
