The Guardian | A new investigation into Chevron’s climate pledge has found the fossil-fuel company relies on “junk” carbon offsets and “unviable” technologies, which do little to offset its vast greenhouse gas emissions and in some cases may actually be causing communities harm.
Hydroelectric Dams
Second Chance for Lula as Controversial Amazon Dam Goes Up for Renewal
Mongabay | “What would be great is if that dam was gone. But there is another plan that would allow the waters to reach the lowland breeding grounds and that is a solution that we could live with.”
Brazilian Indigenous Leader Alessandra Munduruku Awarded Goldman Prize
We celebrate and honor the life and journey of resistance by the great Indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku. May her example serve as a source of inspiration and strength to continue our work in defense of the Amazon in solidarity with all Indigenous peoples.
Amazon Indigenous Woman Wins Goldman Environment Prize
Associated Press | “This award is an opportunity to draw attention to the demarcation of the Sawre Muybu territory. It is our top priority, along with the expulsion of illegal miners.”
Portraits of Women Defenders Uniting Across the Amazon
Indigenous women across the Amazon are coming together like never before to protect and defend our lives, rights, bodies, and territories in the face of ever-increasing threats.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Belo Sun Brings More Destruction to the Volta Grande do Xingu
Despite the Belo Monte dam's devastating legacy, communities are now forced to resist against industrial gold mining in their territory
The Volta Grande do Xingu is under imminent threat. Local communities and organized civil society have been responding to these aggressive attempts to hand over agrarian reform land to international mining company Belo Sun.
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...
Protest Statement: Damn Those Who Celebrate Belo Monte!
A Statement of Protest from Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre (Xingu Alive Forever Movement)
At a time when the people of the Xingu agonize over their lack of water, Bolsonaro hails the final turbine of Belo Monte. At a time when the fish of the Xingu River are reduced to skin and spine because there are no more nutrients in the river, Bolsonaro celebrates Belo Monte. When the forest tumbles like it never has before in the areas of Belo...
BlackRock's Ghoulish Lack of Action for the Amazon
BlackRock is a major investor in the industries driving deforestation and indigenous rights violations in the Amazon. That's why, as the Amazon fires crisis escalated through late summer, we joined with allies at Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace USA, and Friends of the Earth US to contact BlackRock directly about the meaningful steps the...
BlackRock's CEO Fiddles While the Amazon Burns
We can't allow asset managers to keep profiting from the Amazon crisis
What does the world's largest asset manager have to do with the fires raging in Brazil and other parts of the Amazon? In short: a lot. As the world's biggest money manager, BlackRock plays a key role in deciding where and how the $6.5 trillion in funds they manage are invested.
Amazon Fires: Indigenous Peoples Mobilize to Save Their Territories, and the World Steps Up in Solidarity
The crisis is not over, but we also need to prevent the next emergency now
The current crisis is not the beginning of the assault on the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous guardians, and unfortunately, it will not be the last. Long before Brazil's current far-right government took power, local and global industrial interests set the stage for these fires, and they will not change their behavior unless they are...
With the Brazilian Amazon in Flames, We Must All Be the Resistance
Today we may be witnessing the tragedy of our lifetime: the Brazilian Amazon is in flames and in peril. Indeed, it's not only the Amazon, but our entire planet that is in crisis as the devastation of this life-giving biome poses a real, existential threat for all of humanity.
Indigenous Women Mobilize to Resist Bolsonaro
Yesterday, nearly 3,000 indigenous women leaders from across Brazil staged a mobilization in the nation’s capital as part of the country’s first Indigenous Women's March. Entitled "Territory: our body, our spirit,” this historic gathering was in response to escalating violations of indigenous rights under the Bolsonaro government, as native...
As the Brazilian Amazon Burns, Indigenous Peoples Take a Stand
Last month Amazon Watch visited the Munduruku people in the Amazonian state of Pará, whose nation stretches the vast Tapajós River basin. Our stay in the contested Sawré Muybu territory was illustrative of the spiraling threats faced by indigenous peoples in Bolsonaro’s Brazil.
Summer 2019 Investor Eye on the Amazon
A primer for shareholders concerned about rainforest protection and human rights
The Investor Eye on the Amazon provides an update on our campaigns targeting corporations with ties to dirty industry in the Amazon, and it aims to serve as a resource for socially-responsible investors, industry analysts, and researchers looking to better understand the risks associated with investment in extractive industries - and their own...
Statement Regarding Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
"This sobering report shows that the time for protecting biodiversity is running out. From the Amazon to the Arctic, dirty industrial development and human greed is destroying critical ecosystems and harming the communities that depend on the land. As indigenous peoples have reminded us for years: our own survival as human beings is fundamentally...
Report Accuses Companies of Aiding Amazon Destruction
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.
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...
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.
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."
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.
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.
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...
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.
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."
Statement on Bolsonaro’s Inauguration as Brazil’s President
"The coming months will prove pivotal in demonstrating the ability of Brazilian social movements and their allies around the world to forestall President Bolsonaro's most destructive policy proposals. As such, Amazon Watch is redoubling its work in solidarity with our embattled partners to push back against an agenda that portends dire...
Adapt to a Changing Amazon Now, or Pay Far Higher Price Later, Experts Say
The costs of acting now to adapt to a predicted, dramatic loss of Amazon rainforest would be at least one order of magnitude lower than the economic fallout if we waited and did nothing, a new study says.