Brasilia, Brazil – A group of 199 Brazilian civil society organizations released today a letter to the U.S. government warning that a forthcoming cooperation deal between the United States and the Bolsonaro administration could bring risks for the environment, human rights, and democracy.
FPIC
Frontline Activists from Around the World Escalate Pressure on BlackRock
Over 80 renowned Indigenous and frontline activists organized to demand accountability from the world’s largest investors driving climate chaos
BlackRock’s new announcements recognizing the need to reach near-zero-emissions are a step in the right direction that comes after years of campaigning by Indigenous leaders and civil society organizations, but without clear accountability measures, they remain empty promises.
U.S. Representatives to Biden Administration: Speak Up for Indigenous Rights in the Brazilian Amazon
U.S. congresspeople express their deep concern for the dangerous situation facing Brazill’s Munduruku Indigenous people and encourage the Biden Administration to add its voice
Washington, DC - The Biden Administration should express concern to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro about the explosive situation facing the Munduruku Indigenous people in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, 12 members of the U.S. House of Representatives said today in a letter to U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman, led by Rep Raúl Grijalva...
Indigenous Peoples in Brazil Win Key Victory Against Belo Sun
The Canadian mining company, Belo Sun, experienced a setback in its plans to open a massive gold mine in the Xingu river: it lost authorization to meet with Indigenous communities during the pandemic due to a pressure campaign by Indigenous leaders and human rights organizations. Belo Sun is hardly the first extractive company to put its profit...
Attack on Brazilian Indigenous Women’s Association Signals Dangerous Escalation
Jacareacanga, Pará, Brazil – The Munduruku people of the Amazon's upper Tapajós valley are facing escalating threats by armed illegal "wildcat" miners, known as garimpeiros. Yesterday, the Wakoborun Association office in Jacareacanga, Pará state, was attacked, burned, and defaced. The violence occurred shortly after a protest organized by...
Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Indigenous Leaders and Goldman Prize Recipients Send Open Letter to BlackRock
BlackRock has yet to produce concrete policy addressing land rights, deforestation, and human rights abuses in its portfolios
San Francisco, CA – Today, over 80 renowned Indigenous and frontline activists from around the world issued a public letter criticizing BlackRock's role in violating the land rights and human rights of Indigenous peoples and other traditional communities. The signatories, including several recipients of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize...
Statement on Monitoring Illegal Mining Activities in Our Baunilha Stream
We urgently demand that government agencies comply with their constitutional duties. If something happens to our people, we blame the Brazilian government. Even after receiving numerous reports of invasions and destruction of our territory in the middle of a pandemic, it fails to act and allows our people to be killed at the hands of a heavily...
Bolsonaro's Disingenuous Charm Offensive
Brazil's government talks about the "sustainable development" of the Amazon while planning the next assault on it
What does Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro – dubbed the "Trump of the Tropics" – do now that Donald Trump no longer occupies the White House? Steadfastly loyal to Trump, Bolsonaro was one of the last heads of state to recognize Joe Biden's victory. Now, Bolsonaro's diplomatic agents have launched a PR campaign in light of this new political...
A Mistake or Cunning Strategy? We Demand Answers from Anglo American!
Amazon Watch | Anglo American is once again evading explanations for its intentions to mine on Indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon. On November 20, 2020, Anglo American stated that it had given up all applications for mining exploration inside Indigenous lands in Brazil. Following the release of the Complicity in Destruction III report by the...
Statement on Monitoring Illegal Mining Activities Along Our Baunilha Stream: “We Are Not Standing Idly by!”
We are fighting as our ancestors fought for the demarcation of our land – they walked without tiring, and so we will fight tirelessly. This stream belongs to us. This territory belongs to us. The pariwat say that the Munduruku have no spirits any longer – they only have traders. Only we do have the spirits of our ancestors with us, and we are...
Justice for Isac Tembé!
Isac was only 24 years old when he was murdered last Friday by the Brazilian military police
Last Friday, February 12th, Isac Tembé left his home on the Alto Rio Guama Indigenous Territory, in the northeast of the Amazonian state of Pará, to go hunting nearby with a group of friends. He never returned. The young Indigenous leader was murdered; shot point-blank in the chest by a member of Brazil's military police, on his own land.
Mining Company Anglo American States It Does Not Rule Out Mining on Indigenous Lands in the Brazilian Amazon
The mining giant clarified this decision in response to a letter by the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and Amazon Watch, in support of the Munduruku people demanding Anglo American immediately withdraw applications for copper exploration on Sawré Muybu land
British mining company Anglo American responded to the open letter from the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and Amazon Watch, in which the organizations demanded that the mining company make a public commitment not to carry out mining activities on Indigenous lands in Brazil, regardless of changes to Brazilian legislation. In its...
Indigenous Organizations and Human Rights Organizations Respond to PetroEcuador Statement
Quito, Ecuador – Indigenous Organizations and Human Rights Organizations celebrate the decision of the four European banks to exclude Ecuadorian oil trade from their financing portfolios. This crude is extracted from the Amazon and primarily destined for refineries in the U.S. These decisions recognize that in Ecuador, oil companies and the...
COVID-19 Threatens the Future of the Amazon and Its Peoples
Due to the inaction and discrimination by Amazonian governments, Indigenous peoples have called upon international allies to show solidarity at this critical moment to protect Indigenous rights and lives. They have called on allies – including Amazon Watch – to unite and work together to raise awareness and solidarity funding to ensure medicine...
Ecuadorian Court Signals End to Gas Flaring in Amazon Oil Operations
In historic decision, judges rule in favor of lawsuit brought by youth over contamination and climate impacts of oil industry flaring in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Quito, Ecuador – Ecuadorian judges ruled this week in favor of nine girls who sued the government over rights violations from the oil industry practice of gas flaring at oil production sites in the country's Amazon region.
BlackRock’s Big Problem Responds to Larry Fink’s 2021 Letters
BlackRock continues steps in the right direction, but falls short of visionary leadership needed
Oakland, CA – Today, BlackRock released CEO Larry Fink's annual letter to CEOs as well as a letter to its clients. The letters spelled out the next steps the world's largest asset manager will be taking to address the climate crisis. While today's letters indicated several steps in the right direction for the financial giant, it falls short of the...
Ecuadorian Amazon: Three European Banks Stop Funding Trade of Oil
BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and ING have announced plans to exclude the problematic export from their trading activities in response to environmental criticisms
Al Jazeera | Marlon Vargas, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon, believes "the decision of these banks to stop financing trade of Amazon crude from our territories is a major milestone in our effort to protect our lands, our lives, and our cultures. For too long, the oil industry has wreaked havoc on our peoples...
European Banks Quit Ecuador’s Amazonian Oil Trade
ING, Credit Suisse announce moves to exclude Ecuadorean Amazon oil export from trading activities as more European investors turn their backs on fossil fuels
Wall Street Journal | "The banks identified in our report faced serious allegations of double standards for making climate pledges while continuing to finance the trade of Amazon oil," said Moira Birss, climate and finance director at Amazon Watch.
BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, ING to Exclude Exports of Ecuadorian Amazon Oil from Trading Activities
Commitments come in response to Amazon Watch, Stand.earth report that exposed how European banks provide $10 billion USD in oil trade financing from Amazon to U.S.
Geneva, Switzerland – European banks BNP Paribas Group, Credit Suisse, and ING – collectively responsible for financing the trade of $5.5 billion USD in Amazon oil to the U.S. since 2009 – have committed to the immediate exclusion of new Ecuadorian Amazon oil from their trading activities, in emails sent to environmental organizations Stand.earth...
Banks Are Budging!
Pushing big finance on climate in the year to come
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...
European Lenders Exit Amazon Oil Trade After Scrutiny by Campaigners
Reuters | Credit Suisse, Dutch lender ING and France's BNP Paribas have decided to stop financing the trade in crude oil from Ecuador, the banks said on Monday, following pressure from campaigners aiming to protect the Amazon rainforest. The role of European lenders in backing the trade came under scrutiny in August, when a report by advocacy groups Stand...
Brazilian Indigenous Leaders Call for BlackRock Forests and Indigenous Rights Policy
The Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples sent an open letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, calling on the asset management firm to adopt a comprehensive Forests and Indigenous Rights policy. The letter comes days before the expected release of Fink's annual letter, in which he often announces policy changes at the companies BlackRock invests...
Munduruku Demand That Anglo American Commit to Not Mine on Indigenous Lands
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
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...
APIB Denounces Anglo American's Intention to Prospect in Indigenous Territories
APIB, in partnership with Amazon Watch, presented an open letter to mining company Anglo American, calling on it to make a public commitment not to mine on Indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon
The Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples and Amazon Watch issued a letter to mining giant Anglo American calling on it to make a public commitment not to conduct mining activities on Indigenous lands in Brazil, regardless of changes in Brazilian legislation.
Letter from APIB and Amazon Watch to Anglo American
The Munduruku address mining on Indigenous lands and threats to their people and territory, as Anglo American seeks at least 27 research permits in Munduruku territory
We invite Anglo American to make a public commitment to refrain from carrying out any mining activities on Indigenous lands in Brazil, regardless of changes in Brazilian legislation, in line with its human rights and biodiversity protection commitments, in particular the Declaration of ICMM's position on Mining and Protected Areas.
The Shuar Arutam Will Not Be Deterred and Have Already Decided: No Mining!
After voting repeatedly for over 18 years against mining on their territory, the Shuar bring their challenge before the ILO over rights violations
"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...
Amazon Watch Testifies to U.S. Congress on Indigenous Rights in the Amazon
Amazon Watch's Executive Director, Leila Salazar-López, joined allied human rights organizations to testify today to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the status of the human rights of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. She spoke specifically to the situation of Indigenous rights in the Amazon Basin.
Manufacturing Consent: Ecuador to Draft New Bill on the Consultation of Indigenous Peoples, Without Consulting Them
"We demand that an FPIC law be put forth in harmony with and respect for our peoples and nations and our ways and time frames for discussion, analysis, and decision-making. We are not going to acquiesce to an illegitimate law written from their desks in Quito," said a CONFENIAE statement. "Since this will be a law regarding the collective rights...
Will President-elect Biden Protect the Amazon and Stop the Money Pipeline?
A Biden-Harris administration could play a key role in holding financiers accountable for climate destruction
President-elect Joe Biden managed to turn out a significant progressive base to secure the 2020 presidential election. For many voters, his commitments to address environmental and racial justice after several years of actions, protests and calls from activists led to grassroots mobilizations that delivered the presidency and a few flipped states...
