Despite Canada’s “climate forward” public image, it acts as a safe haven for extractive industries and companies operating in Latin America, including regions of climatic significance such as the Amazon.
All Press Releases
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Victory for Yasuní and the Amazon! Ecuadorians Choose a Future Without Fossil Fuels
“Ecuadorians have sent a definitive message to the world: the Amazon, Indigenous rights, biodiversity, and our climate are more important than oil."
Escalating Violence in Ecuador Threatens Human Rights Defenders and Democracy
Assassination of Fernando Villavicencio marks a new crisis point
“For human rights defenders and Indigenous organizations, the increase in violence implies several risks, as illegal and formal capitals tend to articulate and share interests against those who defend rights and territories."
Amazon’s Yasuní Referendum: A “Yes” for Life and a Future Without Fossil Fuels
"As Ecuadorians, we have the historic opportunity to redefine Yasuní as a territory of life and give a clear transforming mandate to governments and the world."
Amazon Nations Failed to Protect the Rainforest and Our Collective Future
While ambitious efforts to strengthen Pan-Amazonian collaboration are positive, and the summit’s final text contains a series of good intentions, Amazon Watch considers that the document falls short in advancing critical protections for the rainforest and human rights.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Peruvian Indigenous Organizations Denounce Italy’s Export Credit Agency for Seeking Loan Partnership with Notorious Polluter Petroperú
Wampís and Achuar Nations request meeting with SACE to discuss lack of due diligence on Petroperú's failure to secure consent for new oil blocks
“SACE must understand why we consider that support for a company like Petroperú includes risks to the lives of our sons and daughters, our people, and the climate crisis in ways that will affect us all, which we simply cannot accept.”
Perupetro Selects Peruvian Amazon Oil Block Operator Implicated in Alleged Conflict of Interest Scandal
“We consider that, despite the response from PetroTal and Isabel Tafur, the fact that the President of Perupetro has worked with PetroTal before winning the bid, tarnishes the bidding process and diminishes the transparency of the selection and award results."
Illegal Miners Suspected in Killing of Yanomami Indigenous Child and Wounding of Five in Brazilian Amazon
"This tragic attack demonstrates the Brazilian authorities’ ongoing challenges in containing illegal mining on Brazil’s Indigenous territories and guaranteeing the Yanomami community's safety."
Indigenous Peoples Reject Canadian Copper Mining Project in Ecuadorian Amazon
Solaris Resources faces rising risk as new Shuar Arutam leadership denounces company ahead of Annual General Meeting
"Mining 'development' is a myth. It is ravaging communities and Ecuador’s unique ecosystems. People have had enough. We are putting companies and investors on notice that they are not welcome in our territories, and we defend our rights.”
Brazil’s Pivotal Indigenous Land Rights Ruling Faces Another Delay
Delay prolongs risks for the climate and Indigenous lives
“The Supreme Court’s definitive ruling denying the Marco Temporal thesis is the only means to counter the moves of Brazil’s agribusiness-oriented Congress and guarantee these proposed legislation's unconstitutionality.”
Javari Valley Communities Remain Under Threat a Year After Dom and Bruno's Murders
"Our focus must not be limited to the direct perpetrators of crimes, but also extend to those endorsing predatory activities in the Javari Valley."
The TNFD Shows That Global Corporations Will Not Solve the Biodiversity Crisis
“Scientific research has made clear that the biodiversity crisis will only be stemmed if we stop all new fossil fuels, reduce industrial livestock, and respect and center the leadership of Indigenous peoples, women’s organizations, peasants, and environmental defenders.”
Regressive and Destructive Indigenous Land Bill Advances in Brazil, Despite Protests
"The lawmakers who voted today in favor of this project will go down in history as responsible for approving a bill that explicitly attacks the lives of Indigenous peoples in Brazil."
Brazil's Congress Deals Major Blow to Indigenous Rights and Environmental Governance
"Brazil's presidency may have changed, but a deeply-rooted anti-environmental and anti-Indigenous sentiment persists in Congress."
Sit-in Continues at Citi NY Headquarters Ahead of Climate Resolutions at Shareholders’ Meeting
“Last year, Indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon met face-to-face with Citi’s leadership, and yet Citi has failed to address their demands to stop financing Petroperú and extractive projects that destroy their homes.”
New Toolkit Guides Investors on Indigenous Rights Respect
Toolkit and website provides innovative guidance for institutional investors on due diligence for Indigenous rights, which is a responsibility of investors and is crucial for climate stability, biodiversity protection, and financial risk management
New York, NY —Today, Amazon Watch published Respecting Indigenous Rights: An Actionable Toolkit for Institutional Investors, an Indigenous-led guide for pension funds, asset managers, and other institutional investors on their responsibility to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples.
State Treasurers and Public Pensions Urged To Support Climate and Indigenous Rights Resolutions at Annual General Meetings
“Public pension fund officers have an obligation to protect their members from both the financial volatility and physical destruction of the climate crisis. They must do their job by voting yes on climate and Indigenous rights resolutions at bank and insurance shareholder meetings this spring.”
BlackRock’s Big Problem Responds to Larry Fink’s 2023 Letter
“Fink has again recognized that climate change risk is having a material impact in the world. However, he claims that BlackRock shouldn’t engineer outcomes related to climate change. This ignores the fact that maintaining the status quo is as much a choice as taking action.”
UN Human Rights Committee Calls on China for Mechanisms to Investigate and Punish Harmful Activities of Its Companies and Banks Abroad
"Having the Committee recommend that Chinese companies and banks be held legally responsible for human rights abuses arising from their operations abroad is not only a step forward in protecting Chinese investment, but also in guaranteeing human rights in any context of transnational capitalism."
New Research Exposes Rights Violations and Financial Risks with Solaris Resources Mining in Ecuador
Assessment warns investors of mining risk in Ecuador as government touts country as "world’s next mining destination" at international mining convention
Amazon Watch released new research today that exposes the social, cultural, and human rights impacts related to Solaris Resources Inc.'s Ecuador mining operations, and the consequential environmental, business, and political risks faced by the company, its investors, and the mining sector writ large. According to the research, investors should be...
Solidarity With the Family of Eduardo Mendúa and CONAIE
Stop the stigmatization, criminalization, and violence against the Indigenous movement
“Amazon Watch expresses our deepest condolences and solidarity with the family and loved ones of Mendúa, and with the leadership and members of CONAIE. We join their demand for a thorough and rigorous investigation and acknowledgment of the root causes of his death. We consider it essential that Eduardo's widow and children find justice and the...
Brazilian Government Launches Huge Operation to Remove Illegal Miners from Yanomami Lands in the Amazon
Actions began this Monday with support from special forces; approximately 25,000 miners are estimated to have flocked into the territory, bringing violence, disease, and destruction
The Brazilian government has initiated operations aimed at dismantling extensive illegal gold mining activities in the Amazon’s Yanomami Indigenous Land. The objective is to drive tens of thousands of illegal miners from the country’s largest Indigenous reserve after they invaded the territory over a span of several years.
Petroperú Will Seek Financing to Drill in Environmentally Conflicted Area
“Banks and asset managers should know that any investment in Petroperú represents a serious financial risk. The current government is trying to take advantage of political instability to speed up contested projects which have a history of extensive unremediated environmental impacts. The message is clear: the oil industry in Peru is a bad...
Two Brazilian Indigenous Youths Are Murdered, Shot in the Back Amid Conflicts Over Land
São Paulo, Brazil – Two youths, Nawir Brito de Jesus, 17, and Samuel Cristiano do Amor Divino, 25, of Brazil’s Indigenous Pataxó people, were brutally murdered on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, in the municipality of Itabela, in southern Bahia state.
The Biden Administration Must Denounce Violent Repression in Peru
In just one month since the Dina Boluarte government came to power, at least 48 civilians have been killed in the context of social protests, 41 of them as the result of wounds caused by gunfire. Human rights groups have sharply criticized Peruvian security forces, which appear to be responsible for most of the deaths, for using lethal force...
Peruvian Indigenous Organization Demands Denunciation of Massacre and Repression by Peruvian Government
The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) released a set of demands of the Peruvian government, international governments, and organizations due to armed violence against Indigenous peaceful protesters
The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) has requested that embassies, international human rights organizations, and faith organizations that hold relationships with Peru release public statements condemning the violence, repression, and criminalization of protest in the country, and lack of action by...
In Sweeping Moves, President Lula Reestablished the Amazon Fund and Signed Environmental Executive Orders
President Lula’s decrees reinstated environmental funding programs, such as the Amazon Fund, revoked a Bolsonaro decree facilitating artisanal Amazon mining, reestablished deforestation control plans, and renamed the Ministry of Environment to include the term Climate Change
“After four years of relentless dismantling of socio-environmental legislation, Lula’s new government is beginning to rebuild the fundamental norms eviscerated by the Bolsonaro regime."
Ziggy Marley, Barbra Streisand, Rosario Dawson, and Artists Release Call for a Global Agreement to Protect 80% of the Amazon Rainforest by 2025 at COP15
“The Indigenous people of Amazonia have lived in balance with the rainforest for centuries. Our collective future requires that we listen to the Indigenous voices on the front lines. Amazonian governments and world leaders must protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025”
COP15: Canadian Mining Corp. Belo Sun Stock Takes Major Hit Before Finance Day at U.N. Biodiversity Summit
“Belo Sun’s suspended environmental license, repeated violations of Indigenous rights, and severe threats to biodiversity and ecosystem health in the Amazon paint a clear picture: the market clearly shows that any company or financial institution foolish enough to invest in or acquire Belo Sun would risk its entire investment.”
