October 25, 2011 – Negotiators failed to agree on financial terms for natural gas sales from Russia to China and construction of a pipeline across the Ukok Plateau, according to reports in NewEurope Online. See the report HERE.
October 25, 2011 – Negotiators failed to agree on financial terms for natural gas sales from Russia to China and construction of a pipeline across the Ukok Plateau, according to reports in NewEurope Online. See the report HERE.
The Wixárika Regional Council and its allies in the Front for the Defense of Wirikuta Tamatsima Waha'a are mobilizing public events and demonstrations in Mexico City this week. They urge everyone to join them, both locally and internationally, in calling for permanent protection for the Wirikuta Natural and Cultural Reserve. Read their call to action below, in English, and the original Spanish here on their website.
On October 17, 2011, a Brazilian federal judge ruled that the controversial Belo Monte Dam licenses are illegal and should be revoked since the Brazilian government did not hold proper consultations with Indigenous communities that would be affected by the project.
Eighty-five organizations, including Cultural Survival, sent a letter sent to investors, urging them to withhold financing for the Phulbari Coal Project in Bangladesh. The project is controlled by Global Coal Management Resources plc (GCM), a London-based company, and its largest investor is Polo Resources, of South Africa. The letter is signed by leading human rights and environmental organizations based in 25 countries.
Papua New Guinea’s government announced that it will restore the right of landowners to challenge in court any project they feel could be detrimental to the environment. According to reports in The National The National Executive Council agreed to repeal the Environmental Amendment Act, passed by the legislature in May 2010, which denied landowners this right.
On October 10, over 100 protesters marched to the Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to demand a halt to the construction of the Patuca III hydroelectric dam. Miskitu, Garifuna and Lenca marchers called on the government to address 16 issues of concern to the Indigenous peoples of Honduras.
Last week, Indigenous landowners rested their appeal to Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court, asking for a permanent injunction to prevent a Chinese nickel mine from dumping toxic mine waste into the Bismarck Sea.
The Oglala Sioux Nation has declared opposition to plans for the Keystone XL gas pipeline project unless the US government can agree to certain conditions set by the Nation.
A Brazilian judge brought construction of the Belo Monte Dam project to a halt last week as he ruled in favor of environmental activists to protect fish species and the Indigenous people who depend on them for food and livelihoods.
The following video was produced by Global Witness based on interviews and research in 67 communities of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It tells the personal stories of the impacts of large-scale logging companies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxn5jfgED1w&feature=player_embedded
As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate talks opened in Panama this week, Indigenous leaders from around the world gathered in Finland and called upon the international community to remove scientific bias against Indigenous knowledge from climate change science and policy.
On September 29, 2011 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it will clean up approximately 1.4 million tons of radium and uranium contaminated soil at the Northeast Church Rock Mine, the largest uranium mine on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.