All News Articles | Amazon Watch
Amazon Watch

All News Articles

Following the Money Behind Amazon Oil Development

Santander and HSBC worked on Petroperú bond issuance despite its record of Amazon oil spills

Financial Times | Local opposition has hampered Petroperú’s plans to start producing crude from two large blocks in the Amazon. For many banks, support for Amazon oil development must look like much more trouble than it is worth.

Abandoned Oil Mess Still Plagues Communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Mongabay | “For us, oil has been a curse because we haven’t seen any [benefits from] oil. The plans are always made in Quito and Guayaquil, in the big cities, but they seem to be unaware of the real damage; by producing a barrel of oil, they’re killing people or animals that should be able to subsist in the Amazon.”

Brazil’s Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Indigenous Land Rights in Historic Win

Court voted against agribusiness-backed attempt to prevent communities claiming land they did not physically occupy in 1988

The Guardian | Nine of the court’s 11 members voted against what rights groups had dubbed the “time limit trick” – an agribusiness-backed attempt to prevent Indigenous communities claiming land they did not physically occupy in 1988.

Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.

DONATE NOW

Pulse, Xingu! The Way to Revive the Volta Grande after Belo Monte

Juruna researchers and riverine people from Volta Grande do Xingu, with academics from different areas of science, propose the Piracemas Hydrogram, a necessary action for fish to reproduce again

Instituto Socioambiental | The Xingu River needs to pulsate for life to exist. The flood pulse is the source of the life cycle in most Amazonian rivers. The Juruna Yudjá of the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land and the riverside communities of Volta Grande do Xingu have known this for a long time.

“Worthless”: Chevron’s Carbon Offsets Are Mostly Junk and Some May Harm, Research Says

Exclusive: Investigation finds energy giant's efforts to offset its huge emissions rely on schemes with little impact

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.

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.”

Canadian Gold Miner Belo Sun Accused of Misleading Investors

Environmental advocate: "No investor should even think of touching this company"

Financial Post | “We are putting any institution or company looking to invest in or acquire Belo Sun on notice: this is a bad actor selling a dangerous project. Anyone looking to get involved with it will be shouldering serious risk and will be complicit in the continued threats to the Amazon rainforest, Indigenous and traditional peoples, and the global climate.”

First-Ever Regional Court Case Involving Rights of Uncontacted Peoples Awaits Verdict

The Inter-American Court of Human rights is evaluating the first-ever case concerning the rights of Indigenous communities in voluntary isolation

Mongabay | In the case Tagaeri & Taromenane Indigenous people vs the Ecuadorian state, lawyers representing the communities in voluntary isolation say the Ecuadorian state has failed to protect these populations and propelled the extractive industry in the area, putting pressure on the rainforest and increasing conflict between local communities.

The Business Case for Indigenous Rights

Companies must account for Indigenous peoples’ human and land rights to understand and address business and climate risks

Stanford Social Innovation Review | As the effects of climate change worsen and concern grows, financial regulators are turning their attention to how companies report on climate-related risks. One crucial factor that businesses and investors may overlook is Indigenous and tribal peoples’ rights.

Immersed in Crisis, Peru Neglects Amazon’s Destruction

Associated Press | Peru has descended into one of the worst political crises in its history and protection of its Amazon rainforest is failing, according to a report published Thursday.

Environmental Lawyer Targeted by Chevron Freed After More Than Two Years Under House Arrest

Steven Donziger represented Ecuadorians in a pollution lawsuit against Chevron. Then he ended up in the oil giant's crosshairs.

Gizmodo | After 993 days, Steven Donziger is finally free. On Monday, the embattled lawyer, who has been targeted by Chevron for years in a Kafka-esque court struggle, finished a six-month sentence, which came on the heels of more than two years under house arrest.

This Lawyer Should Be World-famous for His Battle With Chevron – But He’s in Jail

Chevron is accused of polluting the Amazon for 26 years. The only people who’ve paid the price are a human rights lawyer and those whose land was poisoned.

The Guardian | Most people have probably heard of Chernobyl, or the BP oil spill. You may also know about my legal battle over contaminated water in California, dramatized in the movie Erin Brockovich. Yet far fewer people have heard about what transpired in the Ecuadorian Amazon – though it’s considered by some activists, journalists, and members of US...

Crude Reality: One U.S. State Consumes Half the Oil from the Amazon Rainforest

As oil companies carve up more of the rainforest, a new study says no place in the world uses more oil from beneath the Amazon than California

NBC News | Waorani leader Nemo Guiquita has been fighting the expansion of oil drilling in her tribe’s ancestral homeland for years. She said her grandmother, Nayuma, was the first Waorani to make contact with the outside world 60 years ago. “The rainforest for us is home,” Guiquita said. “It’s our life, our pharmacy, our everything.”

Will Iván Duque Protect Environmental Defenders?

The New York Times | At COP26, President Duque of Colombia attempted to convince the world he is an environmental champion. But back in Colombia, armed gangs are threatening and murdering community leaders and environmental activists who have been trying to protect forests from destruction by mining, lumber and oil companies.

The Real Reason Behind Bolsonaro’s Climate Promises

Without proper enforcement mechanisms, nationalist leaders will continue to drive climate change with impunity

The Atlantic | So far, Bolsonaro’s actions have spoken louder than any of the Brazilian delegation’s words. Back in Brazil, he lambasted a youth representative of Brazil’s indigenous community for going to COP26 only to “attack Brazil.” Surely she should have realized that the easiest way to hurt the country would have been to not attend the summit at all.

Ecuador’s Consultation Process for Indigenous Lands Comes Under the Microscope

Ecuador’s Constitutional Court has selected two legal cases, involving the Cofán and Waorani Indigenous peoples, as a basis to analyze the country’s process of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)

Mongabay | Conflicts with mining companies have become even more serious, says Carlos Mazabanda, Ecuador field coordinator for Amazon Watch, as the state looks to expand its mining sector and relieve some of its dependence on oil. Many communities have been divided by mining companies, while conflicts in the southern province of Morona Santiago have resulted...

“A Continuation of Colonialism”: Indigenous Activists Say Their Voices Are Missing at COP26

Activists in Glasgow reject "big business" approach to climate crisis as they commemorate murdered land defenders

The Guardian | As world leaders inside COP26 in Glasgow boasted about pledges to slash greenhouse gas emissions and end deforestation, Indigenous delegates gathered to commemorate activists killed for trying to protect the planet from corporate greed and government inaction.

Oil Executives Deny Misinformation on Climate Change, Despite Evidence

Mongabay | “Chevron has about 70 serious cases of environmental impunity in 31 countries worldwide, owing over $50 billion in settlement debts. When are you going to cut the check?” Tlaib said at the hearing. “You can poison the planet to make money, but we are going to defend the planet so we can live.”

A New 100-Page Report Raises Alarm over Chevron’s Impact on Planet

Mongabay | “It says horrible things about large companies, multi-national companies,” said environmental anthropologist Nan Greer in an interview. “It says that they can completely walk around international laws, national laws, the laws of their domicile.”