French corporate and investment bank Natixis published a commitment to end trade financing in Ecuadorian crude oil. While joining a growing list of banks making Amazon statements this year, the announcement marks Natixis as the only bank to update its policy to officially include all Ecuadorian oil and gas in its list of exclusions, after a...
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Amazonian Indigenous Peoples Demand Justice One Year After Ecuador Oil Spill
Representatives of 109 Indigenous communities marched to the prosecutor's office in the Amazonian province of Orellana
Coca, Ecuador – This morning, hundreds of Indigenous Kichwa people from the Ecuadorian Amazon marched through the city of Coca to mark one year since the country’s largest oil spill in recent history. On April 7, 2020, 672,000 gallons of crude oil and fuel spilled from the country’s two major pipelines, the OCP and SOTE operated by the OCP...
Deal with Bolsonaro Would Condone Brazil’s Tragedy, NGOs Tell Biden
Nearly 200 Brazilian organizations warn U.S. president about risks of a closed-door negotiation with the Brazilian president
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.
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...
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...
A Community-Centered Response to Violence Against Asian American Communities
On March 16, eight people were killed at three different spas in North Georgia including six Asian women. We are heartbroken by these murders, which come at a time when Asian American communities are already grappling with the traumatic violence against Asian Americans nationwide, fueled by the United States’ long history of white supremacy...
Brazilian Government Authorizes In-person Meeting Between Mining Company and Indigenous Peoples
Brazil's National Indigenous Foundation approved the in-person meeting due to alleged lack of internet connection and by claiming complete vaccination of Indigenous people, however only 77% have received the first vaccine in the region, and only 34% the second dose
Pará, Brazil – In a white paper published on February 10, 2021, the Brazilian National Indigenous Foundation provided details on "health protocols" so that Canadian mining company, Belo Sun, can hold meetings to present and validate its Environmental Impact Study to Indigenous residents from the Indigenous Lands located in Pará state – Arara da...
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...
International Organizations Demand Review of Chevron's Retaliatory Litigation Against Steven Donziger
Thirteen international human rights and environmental watchdog organizations sent an open letter to the U.S. Department of Justice asking it to launch a high-level review of the retaliatory "SLAPP" lawsuits Chevron brought against the lawyer who helped 30,000 Indigenous peoples and farmer communities in Ecuador win a landmark $9.5 billion judgment...
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...
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.
COVID-19: Indigenous Amazonian Leaders Denounce Inequitable Access to the Vaccine and Government Inaction
While governments and multinational corporations prepare for a virtual Davos Forum, Indigenous Amazonian peoples are abandoned to their fate and demand humanitarian aid in the face of the new Brazilian strain of COVID-19
Quito, Ecuador – Leaders of the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) denounced discriminatory policies regarding the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and accused governments in the region of not responding to the needs of Indigenous peoples in the face of the spreading Brazilian strain of the virus. COICA has...
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...
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...
Rejoining the Paris Agreement Requires the Protection of Indigenous Earth Defenders
Andrew Miller, Amazon Watch’s Advocacy Director, made the following statement on the occasion of the U.S. re-joining the Paris Agreement: “The Biden-Harris Administration’s decision that the United States will re-join the Paris Agreement is an encouraging first step toward the fulfillment of its commitment to address the climate...
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...
Defend Democracy! Denounce White Supremacy!
Amazon Watch Statement regarding the coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021
At Amazon Watch, we are deeply disturbed by the violence that threatened democracy and the peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America yesterday. As an international human rights and environmental organization based in the U.S., Amazon Watch denounces the white supremacist violence and attempted coup at the United States Capitol...
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.
Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon Spikes to 12-Year High
A 9.5 percent jump in Amazon deforestation since 2019 is closely linked to President Bolsonaro's anti-environmental agenda, threatening the future of the world's largest rainforest
"The unchecked destruction of the Brazilian Amazon under the Bolsonaro regime threatens not only the future of the forest, but our collective future as well. In today's vast levels of deforestation, we see the fruition of Bolsonaro's disastrous agenda. Environmental crime runs rampant as state environmental agencies are laid to waste. Every square...
Protecting the Amazon Rainforest Crucial to Climate Success for President-elect Biden
Environmental and human rights organization Amazon Watch recommends steps President-elect Biden can take to protect the Amazon rainforest and our climate
"The political and economic interests behind the destruction of the Amazon rainforest – including Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro – are losing a powerful ally with Trump’s election defeat. This is unequivocally good news for the rainforest and her peoples, which are under a sustained assault," said Leila Salazar-López, Amazon Watch Executive...
American Financiers Invested More Than US$18 Billion in Companies Linked to Indigenous Rights Violations in the Brazilian Amazon
A new report exposes international financiers – including BlackRock, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Vanguard, Bank of America, and Dimensional Fund Advisors – invested in companies complicit in land conflicts with Indigenous peoples
Brasília, Brazil and Oakland, USA – U.S.-based financial institutions play a key role in enabling the destructive actions of companies linked to violations of Indigenous rights and conflicts in Indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon, according to a new report published today by the Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and...
Amazonian Indigenous Leader Wins RFK Human Rights Award
Indigenous Leader Alessandra Korap Munduruku Recognized for Longstanding Defense of Rights and Territories in the Brazilian Amazon
Washington, D.C. – Alessandra Korap Munduruku, a prominent Indigenous community leader from the Brazilian Amazon, will be recognized with the annual RFK Human Rights Award on Thursday, October 22nd. This global recognition comes among mounting threats targeting her and the Munduruku community, driven by illegal miners, loggers, and land grabbers...
APIB Receives Letelier-Moffit Human Rights Award
44th Annual Institute for Policy Studies Letelier-Moffit Human Rights Awards Honor Two Outstanding Justice and Human Rights Champions, The Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and The Awood Center
International awardee APIB is a collective movement of indigenous populations across Brazil. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro's politics are threatening to the well-being of Brazil's Indigenous, Afro-descendant, women and LGBTQ+ population, in addition to the health of the Amazon Rainforest and the planet. APIB represents the strongest Indigenous...
Artists, Activists, and Storytellers Join Forces to Release a Hopeful New Animated Short Film
Opal Tometi, Emma Thompson, Gael García Bernal, and Nnimmo Bassey come together as an all-star cast of narrators for the film Message from the Future II: The Years of Repair
Oakland, CA – At a time when everyday life feels like an apocalyptic Hollywood movie, a new animated short film Message from the Future II: The Years of Repair imagines a future in which we emerge from our current crises to build back a better society. Produced by The Leap and The Intercept, the nine-minute film launched online today including a...
APIB Denounces Bolsonaro's Attacks and Misinformation
The Brazilian president delivered a series lies and denials about the state of the Amazon in speeches to the United Nations and Federal Supreme Court
While the government abuses its power to launch defamation campaigns on everyday citizens, APIB has taken matters into their own hands to lessen the impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous peoples and communities. More than 800 Indigenous people have died, and about 32,000 have been infected by COVID-19, according to data from APIB's National Committee...
Oil Companies Seek to End Clean-up of Amazon Oil Spill Despite Ongoing Pollution
Affected Indigenous communities in Ecuador’s Amazon demand justice and share evidence that pollutants remain in two major rivers after the worst oil spill in the last 15 years
Quito, Ecuador – Ecuador's two oil pipeline operators prematurely halted clean-up operations last week, declaring the remediation complete despite evidence of ongoing pollution in both the Coca and Napo rivers. The companies are now seeking to close the door on the country's worst spill in the last 15 years by convening public meetings with...
