Eye on the Amazon

Financial giants BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Vanguard, among those that invested more than US $18 billion in nine companies tied to conflicts on Indigenous lands

October 28, 2020 – As the Amazon rainforest smolders from another disastrous burning season and its Indigenous communities face spiking violence and land invasions incited by a racist president, we must stand in solidarity with Brazil's grassroots resistance. Amazon Watch's and APIB's innovative reporting does just this by helping the country's National Indigenous Movement to shine a spotlight on the pivotal role of global finance in shaping the future of Brazil's human rights and environmental landscape.

October 22, 2020 – Bolsonaro and his henchmen would have us believe that "the Amazon doesn't catch fire," "the Amazon isn't burning," or even that "Africa is burning much more than Brazil." Yet these flimsy arguments cannot withstand the accurate documentation of how this year's heartbreaking burning season has laid waste to Brazilian ecosystems while incinerating the country's once-touted environmental credentials along with the credibility of its so-called leaders.

October 20, 2020 – This election in the United States could well be the most consequential of our lifetimes. Racial justice issues are on the ballot. Climate change is on the ballot. The future of the American democratic experiment – as flawed as it has been – is on the ballot. And yes, the Amazon rainforest is also on the ballot.

October 1, 2020 – Our planet is on fire and we cannot breathe. From the criminal arson ravaging the Amazon rainforest for profit to the wildfires raging on the West Coast of the United States due to escalating climate chaos, our planet and communities are under attack. These are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of broken systems that perpetuate the destruction of the environment, place profit over people, and enable systemic racism. We must unite our calls and movements to protect the Amazon, defend Indigenous rights, and demand racial and climate justice.

The company has led a divisive public relations campaign in attempts to manufacture consent for the Warintza mining project

September 25, 2020 – "This 'Strategic Alliance' is not an 'innovative relationship' as Solaris portrays it. It is the same strategy that many mining and oil companies have used to advance their projects, while side-stepping and disrespecting the legitimate and traditional Indigenous organizational structures."

The Kichwa of Ecuador vow to appeal lawsuit over worst oil spill in the last fifteen years

September 5, 2020 – "Today's ruling shows that the Ecuadorian justice system has once again put the interests of oil companies above the rights of Indigenous peoples and nature. The evidence of contamination and the impact on the lives of the Kichwa populations of the Coca and Napo rivers was overwhelming during the hearing. However, the judge, without law or logic on his side, denied justice for those affected by the spill who have been waiting for months for meaningful action to remediate and repair the damage. Meanwhile, the river and the lives along it, have changed, perhaps forever."