SPECIAL REPORTS AND PROJECTS
Witness Radio – Uganda, Community members from Mozambique and other organizations around the world say NO to more industrial tree plantations
Published
4 years agoon
21st/09/2020: Kampala – Uganda – As we commemorate the International Day of Struggle against Monoculture Tree Plantations, Witness Radio – Uganda together with more than 730 members of Mozambican communities, and 120 organizations from 40 countries, have signed and released an Open Letter demanding the suspension of plans to expand such monoculture plantations in the Global South, especially in Africa.
The letter warns of the “real danger of a gigantic, worldwide expansion of monoculture tree plantations”, under the false pretext of ‘reforestation’. Governments of the Global North are placing their bets on this, while refusing to take the measures necessary to avoid climate chaos. Thus, they perpetuate the capitalist model of unfettered exploitation and destruction, mainly in countries of the Global South, to the benefit of the private profits of a few.
The letter denounces a report produced in 2019 by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and WWF-Kenya, which identifies 500,000 hectares of land in 10 African countries suited for industrial tree plantation by private companies. This report invites the Cooperation Agencies of North European countries and the World Bank through the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to invest public money in this expansion. This proposal ignores the existence of communities on these lands, as well as all the calls and struggles by communities against this kind of project. It is unacceptable that in this day and age, governments of the North should impose their plans on communities in 10 African countries without them having access, let alone the ability to opine on such plans.
The letter demands that “the non-public version of this study be published immediately by the AfDB and WWF-Kenya so that its content may be known”. It also demands that national governments of the Global South no longer follow the dictates of the World Bank and Northern governments, and reject the privatization of community lands and their transfer to private capital, as is currently happening in Mozambique. The letter demands quite the opposite, i.e., “a wide-ranging review of the process of allocation of land to plantation corporations, ensuring the return of land to the communities that depend on it”.
The letter concludes by saying that ”We reiterate our solidarity on this September 21st with the legitimate and just struggles of communities that resist the advance of plantations all over the world and strive to take back their lost lands. The struggle continues!”
Read full details of the letter here: https://witnessradio.org/download/reports/Open-Letter-on-Monoculture-plantation-WR-signs.pdf
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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
1 year agoon
September 27, 2023The 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
2 years 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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SPECIAL REPORTS AND PROJECTS
Farmland values hit record highs, pricing out farmers
Published
2 years agoon
November 21, 2022Women’s Climate Assembly, 2024: African women vow to protect human and environmental rights amidst an influx of destructive land-based investments on the continent.
UN approves carbon market safeguards to protect environment and human rights
Breaking: West and Central African women meet in Senegal over the climate crisis.
Total Energies’ oil exploration activities are displacing dozens of families due to flooding.
Industrial plantations: stop endangering local farmers, Indigenous knowledge, and food system models – land-grab victims
EACOP: Another community of 80 households has lost its land to the government and Total Energies to construct an oil pipeline.
Uganda: Land-grab victim communities will join counterparts in commemorating the 2024 International Day of Struggle Against Industrial Plantations.
Breaking: West and Central African women meet in Senegal over the climate crisis.
Innovative Finance from Canada projects positive impact on local communities.
Over 5000 Indigenous Communities evicted in Kiryandongo District
Petition To Land Inquiry Commission Over Human Rights In Kiryandongo District
Invisible victims of Uganda Land Grabs
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- THE SITUATION OF PLANET, ENVIRONMENTAL AND LAND RIGHTS DEFENDERS IS FURTHER DETERIORATING IN UGANDA AS 2023 WITNESSED A RECORD OF OVER 180 ATTACKS.
- A CASE STUDY REPORT ON THE CHALLENGES OF ACCESSING JUSTICE BY VICTIMS OF LAND GRABBING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE IMPACT ON DISPLACED COMMUNITIES IN UGANDA
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Legal Framework
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