SPECIAL REPORTS AND PROJECTS
The battle to save Bugoma forest goes to a regional court
Published
3 years agoon

A group of environmentalists from Little Hands Go Green spent three days touring the forest. Photo by ChimpReports.
By witnessradio.org Team
Kampala – Uganda – The battle to save Bugoma Forest has been taken to the East African Court of justice.
Environmental Shield, a nonprofit organization promoting human rights and battling climate change has partnered with Robert Turyakira, a human rights defender to block the giveaway of part of Bugoma Forest land for sugar cane growing through the regional court.
Through their lawyers of Kiiza Mugisha and company advocates, the duo accuse environment body NEMA of granting Hoima Sugar limited a certificate of approval of the environment and social impact assessment okaying the use of 9.24 square miles of the area neighboring Bugoma central forest reserve for sugar cane growing and associated developments.
The duo claim that on the 14th of August 2020, Uganda’s environment regulator and sustainable guarantor, NEMA, issued a certificate number. NEMA/ESIA 13709 to Hoima sugar authorizing the Kyangwalo mixed land use project entailing the planting of sugarcane.
The project approval relates to within plot 216 block 2 traversing Butoole Parish and Kaseeta Parish, Buhanguzi County, Kikuube district boarding Bugoma Forest reserve.
The applicants claim that the Project area neighbors Bugoma central forest reserve which was gazzeted in 1932 as a tropical high forest and home to over 600 chimpanzees and its part of its ecosystem.
They also say that sugar cane growing has adverse environmental and climate change impacts including pollution of water bodies, rivers and streams boiling water quality and accuse NEMA of ignoring a climate impact assessment as necessitate by the dictates of the contemporary good environment governance and didn’t consider the human rights impact assessment prior to the project approval contrary to the constitution of the republic of Uganda, the National environment act and that o the East African treaty.
Nema is also accused of ignoring a climate change impact assessment as necessitated by the dictates of the contemporary good environment governance and didn’t consider the human rights impact assessment prior to the project approval contrary to the constitution of the republic of Uganda, the National environment act and that o the East African treaty.
Environment shield and Mr. Turyakira insist that the project approval threatens the area individual’s communities, will trigger biodiversity loss, jeopardize sustainable development, and derail appropriate climate action.
They now want court to interpret whether the actions of the government of Uganda as a partner state are unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of the treaty and ensure that it adheres to the law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the treaty by the partners.
Environmentalists and conservationists have warned about the dangers of giving away Bugoma forest and areas around the forest for sugarcane growing because it threatens the environment and the different wild species and birds that reside in and around the forest.
The matter is still before the Ugandan courts of law.
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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
Statement: The Energy Sector Strategy 2024–2028 Must Mark the End of the EBRD’s Support to Fossil Fuels
Published
4 days agoon
September 27, 2023
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is due to publish a new Energy Sector Strategy before the end of 2023. A total of 130 civil society organizations from over 40 countries have released a statement calling on the EBRD to end finance for all fossil fuels, including gas.
From 2018 to 2021, the EBRD invested EUR 2.9 billion in the fossil energy sector, with the majority of this support going to gas. This makes it the third biggest funder of fossil fuels among all multilateral development banks, behind the World Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank.
The EBRD has already excluded coal and upstream oil and gas fields from its financing. The draft Energy Sector Strategy further excludes oil transportation and oil-fired electricity generation. However, the draft strategy would continue to allow some investment in new fossil gas pipelines and other transportation infrastructure, as well as gas power generation and heating.
In the statement, the civil society organizations point out that any new support to gas risks locking in outdated energy infrastructure in places that need investments in clean energy the most. At the same time, they highlight, ending support to fossil gas is necessary, not only for climate security, but also for ensuring energy security, since continued investment in gas exposes countries of operation to high and volatile energy prices that can have a severe impact on their ability to reach development targets. Moreover, they underscore that supporting new gas transportation infrastructure is not a solution to the current energy crisis, given that new infrastructure would not come online for several years, well after the crisis has passed.
The signatories of the statement call on the EBRD to amend the Energy Sector Strategy to
- fully exclude new investments in midstream and downstream gas projects;
- avoid loopholes involving the use of unproven or uneconomic technologies, as well as aspirational but meaningless mitigation measures such as “CCS-readiness”; and
- strengthen the requirements for financial intermediaries where the intended nature of the sub-transactions is not known to exclude fossil fuel finance across the entire value chain.
Source: iisd.org
Download the statement: https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-09/ngo-statement-on-energy-sector-strategy-2024-2028.pdf
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SPECIAL REPORTS AND PROJECTS
Will more sovereign wealth funds mean less food sovereignty?
Published
6 months agoon
April 13, 2023
- 45% of Louis Dreyfus Company, with its massive land holdings in Latin America, growing sugarcane, citrus, rice and coffee;
- a majority stake in Unifrutti, with 15,000 ha of fruit farms in Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Philippines, Spain, Italy and South Africa; and
- Al Dahra, a large agribusiness conglomerate controlling and cultivating 118,315 ha of farmland in Romania, Spain, Serbia, Morocco, Egypt, Namibia and the US.
Sovereign wealth funds invested in farmland/food/agriculture (2023)
|
|||
Country
|
Fund
|
Est.
|
AUM (US$bn)
|
China
|
CIC
|
2007
|
1351
|
Norway
|
NBIM
|
1997
|
1145
|
UAE – Abu Dhabi
|
ADIA
|
1967
|
993
|
Kuwait
|
KIA
|
1953
|
769
|
Saudi Arabia
|
PIF
|
1971
|
620
|
China
|
NSSF
|
2000
|
474
|
Qatar
|
QIA
|
2005
|
450
|
UAE – Dubai
|
ICD
|
2006
|
300
|
Singapore
|
Temasek
|
1974
|
298
|
UAE – Abu Dhabi
|
Mubadala
|
2002
|
284
|
UAE – Abu Dhabi
|
ADQ
|
2018
|
157
|
Australia
|
Future Fund
|
2006
|
157
|
Iran
|
NDFI
|
2011
|
139
|
UAE
|
EIA
|
2007
|
91
|
USA – AK
|
Alaska PFC
|
1976
|
73
|
Australia – QLD
|
QIC
|
1991
|
67
|
USA – TX
|
UTIMCO
|
1876
|
64
|
USA – TX
|
Texas PSF
|
1854
|
56
|
Brunei
|
BIA
|
1983
|
55
|
France
|
Bpifrance
|
2008
|
50
|
UAE – Dubai
|
Dubai World
|
2005
|
42
|
Oman
|
OIA
|
2020
|
42
|
USA – NM
|
New Mexico SIC
|
1958
|
37
|
Malaysia
|
Khazanah
|
1993
|
31
|
Russia
|
RDIF
|
2011
|
28
|
Turkey
|
TVF
|
2017
|
22
|
Bahrain
|
Mumtalakat
|
2006
|
19
|
Ireland
|
ISIF
|
2014
|
16
|
Canada – SK
|
SK CIC
|
1947
|
16
|
Italy
|
CDP Equity
|
2011
|
13
|
China
|
CADF
|
2007
|
10
|
Indonesia
|
INA
|
2020
|
6
|
India
|
NIIF
|
2015
|
4
|
Spain
|
COFIDES
|
1988
|
4
|
Nigeria
|
NSIA
|
2011
|
3
|
Angola
|
FSDEA
|
2012
|
3
|
Egypt
|
TSFE
|
2018
|
2
|
Vietnam
|
SCIC
|
2006
|
2
|
Gabon
|
FGIS
|
2012
|
2
|
Morocco
|
Ithmar Capital
|
2011
|
2
|
Palestine
|
PIF
|
2003
|
1
|
Bolivia
|
FINPRO
|
2015
|
0,4
|
AUM (assets under management) figures from Global SWF, January 2023
|
|||
Engagement in food/farmland/agriculture assessed by GRAIN
|
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Statement: The Energy Sector Strategy 2024–2028 Must Mark the End of the EBRD’s Support to Fossil Fuels