Despite the urgent imperative to keep at least two thirds of all fossil fuels in the ground in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, governments and companies continue to recklessly expand fossil fuel exploration and drilling across the globe.
Hydroelectric Dams
"Equator Banks, Act!" Campaign Welcomes Decision to Revise the Equator Principles
The core group of organizations leading the global "Equator Banks, Act!" campaign welcomed the decision of the Equator Principles Association to start a full revision process of the Equator Principles.
My First Decade at Amazon Watch
Over ten years, I have been privileged to play a role in most of the organization's major campaign initiatives. While the moments of exhilaration, frustration, learning, anger, and beauty could fill a book, I want to share ten snapshots of key experiences that represent what serving with Amazon Watch has meant to me.
Xingu River Defender Antônia Melo Honored for Her Lifelong Struggle
"I am but drop of water in the ocean, but together with many others we can shape the force of its waters and make change. This is what motivates my commitment to continue fighting, so that human rights, social-environmental justice, and that life be affirmed for present and future generations!"
Brazil’s National Indigenous Movement: Resolute in Times of Crisis
Given its recent impressive and successful record at resisting an onslaught of attacks, Brazil's National Indigenous Movement should inspire anyone resisting regressive governments around the world.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
When Defending the Land Becomes a Crime
"At the end of the day resistance is an ethical struggle. It is a struggle we must take up. Resistance is a principle of justice, especially when we see that the people are suffering."
Brazil’s Mega Hydro Plan Foreshadows China’s Growing Impact on the Amazon
"Support of projects that result in rainforest destruction undermines China's efforts to position itself as a leader in the global fight against climate change."
Amazon in Focus 2017
While the threats to the Amazon and indigenous peoples seem daunting at times – with reports of increased deforestation due to industrial activity and lawlessness resulting in attacks against earth defenders – we cannot lose sight of hope and victories on the horizon.
Amplify! A Celebration of Voices from the Amazon
Thank you to all our friends and supporters who joined us on September 27th, 2017 for our annual gala - Amplify! A celebration of voices from the Amazon.
2017 Achievements and Priorities
The Amazon and its peoples are under threat from unsustainable mega-projects that, if built, will accelerate deforestation, displacement of indigenous peoples, and climate change. The next several years will be critical to advancing rainforest protection, indigenous rights, and solutions to climate change such as clean renewable energy.
Equator Banks Called upon to Act on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
65 environmental, human rights and Indigenous Peoples' organisations today sent an open letter to the Steering Committee of the Equator Principles Association, calling for new and much stronger commitments to be made by its 91 member banks on combating climate change and respecting Indigenous Peoples' rights and territories.
Saving the Serranía de San Lucas, a Vital Link in the "Jaguar Corridor"
The race is on to protect the area through establishing it as a national park. Proponents of the initiative say doing to would help maintain its rich biodiversity and ensure it retains viable habitat for jaguars and other wildlife.
After Deafening Global Outcry, the Brazilian Government Retreats on Plan to Permit Mining in Massive Amazonian Reserve
A tremendous national and international public outcry from all walks of society forced Temer to roll back his original decree to allow mining in a large, pristine area of the Amazon rainforest.
Colombia Faces Challenge To Build Peace Without Sacrificing Its Famed Biodiversity
It is critical that conflict between armed groups is not simply replaced by conflict between communities and mega projects over the protection of their livelihoods and environment.
Maps Reveal How Amazon Development Is Closing in on Isolated Tribes
Development projects in the Amazon Basin – including dams, roads, and oil and gas operations – are encroaching on forests that are the last refuges of thousands of indigenous people who continue to shun contact with the outside world, according to a study that estimates the tribes' locations.
Victory for Indigenous Peoples as Brazil’s Supreme Court Rejects Attempts To Limit Indigenous Land Rights
In a major victory for indigenous peoples, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled unanimously this week in favor of indigenous land rights in two separate lawsuits, setting an important legal precedent.
Victory for Indigenous Rights as Brazil’s Supreme Court Rejects Government Proposal To Limit Land Rights
In unanimous rulings on two disputed indigenous land-titling cases, the Court dismissed a legal opinion issued by the Attorney General and endorsed by President Michel Temer, which argued for the rejection of land claims by indigenous peoples unless they inhabited their traditional territories at the time Brazil's 1988 Constitution was ratified.
Brazilian Firm Wants To Build New Dams in Amazon’s Aripuanã Basin
With the bancada ruralista mining / agribusiness lobby in control of the Temer government and Congress, a Brazilian company, Intertechne Consultores, sees it as an opportune time to revive a shelved plan to build dams in the Amazon’s Aripuanã basin.
We Are Made of the Sacred!
A mobilization of the Munduruku people, which began two months ago by women concerned with defending sacred places and indigenous rights and led to an occupation of the construction site of the São Manoel hydroelectric dam project, ended on Friday. The Munduruku, however, have made it clear that their struggle continues.
Desperate to Save His Job, Brazil’s President Temer Escalates Assault on Indigenous Peoples and Amazonian Forests
President Temer is personally driving an unprecedented series of assaults on human rights and environmental protection in Brazil. His actions must be categorically denounced as they portend disaster for native peoples, endangered biomes such as the Amazon, and humanity as a whole.
China’s Other Big Export: Pollution
A true climate leader would invest in the preservation of areas of global ecological importance rather than destroy them.
Brazilian Indigenous Group Occupies Amazon Dam, Halts Construction To Demand Rights
At dawn on Sunday, July 16th, 200 representatives of the indigenous Munduruku nation occupied the main work camp of the São Manoel hydroelectric dam on the Teles Pires River in the Brazilian Amazon, paralyzing the project.
Brazil Power Plant Construction Paralyzed by Indigenous Protesters
Construction of a power plant on the Teles Pires river in Brazil was paralyzed by protesters from the Munduruku tribe, a leader of the group told Reuters on Monday.
Unexamined Synergies: Dam Building and Mining Go Together in the Amazon
"The truth is that installing a hydropower dam provokes the installation of mining projects. This never, or extremely rarely, is integrated into the licensing process as a synergetic effect."
Amazon’s Forests Still Endangered Despite Brazilian President’s Vetoes of Environmental Protection Rollbacks
While the vetoes seemed a concession to demands from his Environmental Minister and a coalition of environmental and human rights organizations, they now appear to be mere greenwash of the government's anti-environment agenda and and an attempt distract the public from its alarming assault on the Amazon.
Amazon Forest Endangered Despite Brazilian President’s Vetoes of Environmental Protection Reductions
In a letter denouncing the president for using the vetoes to obscure his intention to reduce forest protections through other means, a group of Brazilian and international NGOs warned that ruralista lawmakers would likely amend the new legislation to slash the protections on an even greater area of forest.
Stop Fueling Amazon Destruction
Extracting crude oil from the western Amazon Basin threatens ecologically- and culturally-sensitive ecosystems critical to global climate stability. California is the largest single importer and processor of this fuel. Therefore, brand-name retailers with significant operations in California have a critical role to play in reducing U.S. demand for...
UN Experts Slam Brazilian Government’s Attacks on Indigenous Rights
In response to the deepening human rights crisis gripping Brazil, last week a group of experts from the UN and IACHR forcefully denounced President Temer's administration and the agribusiness-affiliated ruralista congressional bloc for leading the assault on the rights of indigenous peoples.
Brazil’s Political Chaos Paves the Way for Environmental Plunder
As Brazil's President Michel Temer weathers a new storm of corruption allegations that threaten to topple his administration, the rightwing ruralista congressional bloc is cynically leveraging this political chaos to ram through its regressive and malicious agenda.
