Press Releases

Chevron’s Move to Hold Online Annual Shareholder’s Meeting Provided No Respite from Intense Criticism by Affected Communities, Prominent Leaders, and Artists

CEO Wirth Never Before Confronted by Such Prominent Group of Voices Including Alec Baldwin, Roger Waters, and Nobel Laureate Jody Williams

Chevron's annual shareholder's meeting took place online this year due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Ironically, by holding a virtual meeting, Chevron opened itself up to greater participation in what is usually a closed-door ticketed event. Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams and world-renowned actor and producer Alec Baldwin both stood to move shareholder resolutions related to the $9.5 billion Ecuador liability by sharing pre-recorded video messages.

Amazon Watch Statement: Amazon Watch Statement: JPMorgan Chase Climate Action Is Vastly Insufficient

JPMorgan Chase's February announcement of new, limited restrictions on its financing of certain kinds of fossil fuels in certain highly controversial extraction sites was a step in the right direction, but like many other financial institutions' commitments, it falls short. Notably, the bank's climate policy fails to outline measurable commitments to protect the Amazon and other sensitive biomes, many of which are home to indigenous peoples vehemently defending their ancestral territories. Amazon Watch research found that JPMorgan Chase has contributed over $890 million to Amazon crude oil extraction since 2017 and nearly $600 million to beef companies linked to illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

Civil Liberties Defense Center to Represent Environmental and Human Rights Lawyer Steven Donziger

After an immense legal battle – twenty long years – with the multinational fossil fuel giant, Donziger was successful in helping the Indigenous people of the region win a massive $9.5 billion judgment. This is the largest known amount in damages in an environmental case from a trial. The funds were awarded to remediate decades of toxic contamination of the region's waterways, which caused cancer and a host of other serious health problems. Unfortunately, these problems continue to this day, as Chevron continues to pollute the Ecuadorian Amazon with impunity, and has not paid a dime toward the court-ordered cleanup. The judgment against Chevron has been affirmed in whole or in part by at least six appellate courts in the countries of Ecuador, Canada, and the United States, and efforts to enforce the ruling continue.

COVID-19: Inaction and Lack of Funds Threatens Over Three Million Indigenous People and Over 400 Ethnic Groups in the Amazon

Given the inaction of governments in the face of the humanitarian crisis due to the expansion of COVID-19, Amazon's COICA launches an urgent global call to raise essential resources while waiting for the governments of the region to take immediate action

Given the inaction of governments of the Amazon basin to meet the needs of indigenous peoples in the face of the expansion of COVID-19, the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) have launched today a campaign to raise at least three million dollars for emergency and essential funds for the next two weeks. However, the leadership of COICA warned that these funds are only an "absolute minimum to begin operation" and that many more funds will be needed to respond to the pandemic in the region.

Amazon Watch Statement: Goldman Sachs' Climate Action Is Not Enough

"If Goldman truly wants to be a 'sustainability' leader, it must end corporate financing for fossil fuel expansion in the Amazon and around the world – particularly when that expansion happens on indigenous territories."

Amazon Watch Statement: HSBC Must Step Up Its Climate Action and Stakeholder Participation

"If HSBC truly wants to live up to its responsibility to communities and its pledge to a low-carbon economy, it must end corporate financing for fossil fuel expansion in the Amazon and around the world – particularly when that expansion happens on indigenous territories."

Amazon Watch Statement: Citi's New Environmental and Social Policy Falls Short

Citigroup's unambitious new policy, released just before its annual general meeting of shareholders, ignores the climate and indigenous rights risks of oil drilling in the Amazon

"If Citi truly cares about being a leader on climate and indigenous rights, it must end corporate financing for fossil fuel expansion in the Amazon and around the world – particularly when that expansion is planned for the territories of indigenous peoples."