Stay informed: News and blogs on our environment.

IPCC: Climate change: a threat to human wellbeing and health of the planet. Taking action now can secure our future

BERLIN, Feb 28 – Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released today.  “This...

read more

DeJusticia: join fellowship program for defenders from the Global South

Get involved! Our fellowship program for defenders from the Global South is now open! If you belong to an organization that defends human rights in a country in the Global South that is in emergency or at high risk, we invite you to participate in our fellowship program so that, with our support, you can develop your projects. By: Dejusticia | February 23, 2022 The closure of civic...

read more

Honduran supreme court orders release of six anti-mining protesters: The Guardian

The Guapinol river on the outskirts of Tocoa in the Colon department. Amnesty International described the verdict and said the Guapinol activists were prisoners of conscience. Photograph: Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images The Honduran supreme court has ordered the release of six anti-mining protesters, ruling that they should never have been put on trial. The environmentalists, who...

read more

Interview on environmental human rights defenders: UNIGE

Peter Bille Larsen recently took part in an interview with the Swiss Network for International Studies to discuss the issue of environmental human rights defenders.  The content of the discussion is based on a collaborative paper entitled “Understanding and responding to the environmental human rights defenders crisis: The case for conservation action”  which was...

read more

Indigenous Community Members in 64 Villages Call for Halt to Proposed Mine-ELAW News

Thousands of Indigenous people living along a tributary of Papua New Guinea’s Frieda River have filed a complaint to halt plans for Australian company PanAust’s proposed Frieda River Mine. If built, the gold and copper mine would be the largest mine in PNG, threatening the Sepik River and the entire Frieda River basin. The construction phase involves discharging toxic material into the...

read more

DRL Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): Protecting the Rights of Environmental Defenders in Africa-U.S Department of State

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT United States Department of StateBureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL)Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): DRL Protecting the Rights of Environmental Defenders in Africa This is the announcement of funding opportunity number SFOP0008531 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number:  19.345 Type of Solicitation: Open...

read more

Young environmentalists ‘plant the future’ in Colombia’s Amazon: MONGABAY News

by Dimitri Selibas on 24 January 2022 Young people like Felipe “Pipe” Henao in Guaviare, Colombia, are using tree planting and social media to raise awareness and spread the message of protecting and valuing the environment.Colombia’s Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) recorded a nationwide deforestation rate of 171,685 hectares (424,242 acres) in...

read more

Rapid response mechanism to protect environmental defenders established under the Aarhus Convention: UNECE

A decision establishing a rapid response mechanism for the protection of environmental defenders was adopted by the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) at its seventh session in Geneva, on 21 October 2021. This is the first such mechanism...

read more

FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES’ WITHDRAWAL FROM MYANMAR, A VICTORY FOR THE PEOPLE: EarthRights International

Human rights advocates urge companies to divest responsibly January 21, 2022, Washington, D.C.—Fossil fuel companies Total Energies and Chevron announced today they would cease gas operations in Myanmar. EarthRights Executive Director Ka Hsaw Wa issued the following statement:  “Today’s announcements by Total and Chevron are a major victory for the people of Myanmar and the...

read more

Shock in Colombia over murder of 14-year-old indigenous activist-The Guardian

A 14-year old indigenous activist has been murdered in Colombia, prompting horror and shock at the latest in a spate of killings of environmentalists and social leaders in the South American country. Breiner David Cucuñame was shot dead on Friday while on patrol with the Indigenous Guard, an unarmed group which seeks to protect indigenous lands from incursions by the country’s...

read more