Eye on the Amazon

Pushing big finance on climate in the year to come

January 25, 2021 – We are only a few weeks into 2021 and today we've announced the inspiring news that European banks that are collectively responsible for financing the trade of over $5.5 billion in Amazon oil to the U.S. from 2009 to 2020 have committed to immediate exclusion measures on the trading of oil from the Amazon Sacred Headwaters of Ecuador! These commitments come in response to the August 2020 report by Stand.earth and Amazon Watch that exposed how European banks financed the trade of $10 billion USD of oil from the Amazon Sacred Headwaters region to the U.S. This is the first time global commercial banks have adopted policies that exclude finance for extractive activities in the Amazon rainforest. It's both an encouraging sign of things to come and a great motivator to ramp up the pressure – now!

As recently as November 2020, Anglo American had 13 copper prospecting and research permits on Sawré Muybu Indigenous land, which is part of the Munduruku territory

January 8, 2021 – Indigenous lands are protected by the Brazilian Constitution, and current attempts to change this regulatory framework represent a major threat to the rights of Indigenous peoples, to the integrity of their territories – which remain barriers against deforestation and the degradation of Brazilian biomes – and to the ecological and climatic balance resulting from the protection of Indigenous lands, particularly in the Amazon. The Munduruku have spoken: no mining in our lands!

December 28, 2020 – 2020 was defined by fundamental challenges and transformations. We've all had to adapt and create a new way of living and connecting. Most of us could have never imagined that caring for one another would involve so much isolation. It has become commonplace to call these times unprecedented, but Indigenous peoples had already warned us that destroying Mother Earth would have devastating consequences on our lives. More specifically, they told us that deforestation could unleash diseases that we've never known of. They showed us that pandemics and the destruction of the world's rainforests are interconnected and that we must act now if we are to avoid future crises for humanity and the planet.

December 22, 2020 – "As my physical world has shrunk, the online world has expanded by multiples of thousands. And once I get through this, I have no doubt that Chevron will be paying this judgment such that thousands of Indigenous people and rural communities will have a clean environment and thousands of lives will be saved. That's what this is ultimately about."

While Brazilian authorities deny the impact of the criminal arson, Amazon Watch and our allies exposed and challenged the growing fires and deforestation in the Amazon

December 10, 2020 – Over the past year, Bolsonaro's government failed once again to present a plan to curb deforestation and instead further emboldened land grabbers to destroy the rainforest. Evidence points to the greatest loss of trees in the Brazilian Amazon since 2008. The destruction of the Amazon is linked to Indigenous rights violations and conflicts on Indigenous territories. This International Human Rights Day, we call on the world to fight for Indigenous rights and self-determination. Our ability to protect the Amazon and our climate depend on it.

After voting repeatedly for over 18 years against mining on their territory, the Shuar bring their challenge before the ILO over rights violations

December 8, 2020 – "The mining companies are dividing our organization. They are harassing the leaders of the PSHA who oppose mining projects. For this reason, we are exercising our right to self-determination. We have decided not to allow large-scale mining projects in our territory. We demand that the concessions that have been granted in our territory without our knowledge be canceled."