Sarawak state in Malaysian Borneo already has an excess of electricity from existing hydropower dams - so why is the government determined to build a dozen more, displacing indigenous communities and flooding vast areas of rainforest? The answer, says a new documentary film by The Borneo Project, is simple - massive political corruption.
… Commerce or Corruption? The rainforest dams of Sarawak The … Borneo Project, is simple - massive political corruption. A new film exposes how officials … island of Borneo The film, ' Commerce or Corruption? The economics of mega-dams ' shows …
Indonesia appears to brought rainforest logging under control - but it's all a huge illusion, according to a new EIA report. Traditional logging has been replaced by the mass clearance of rainforest for oil palm plantations, creating massive supplies of hugely profitable but often illegal timber. And lurking beneath the surface is a pervasive network of criminality and corruption.
… is a pervasive network of criminality and corruption. In November 2014, the newly … have been undermined by a combination of corruption and incompetence, resulting in the … face of illegal logging in Indonesia today. Corruption is a key obstacle to enforcement, …
Indonesia's President Widodo has promised strong action to put out his country's raging forest fires, writes Scott Edwards. Yet this year's conflagrations are the worst since 1997. His problem? Powerful elites in forested provinces are making big money from the burning. And they see little reason to heed Widodo's pleas - or anyone else's.
… responsible for the fires - which has led to corruption, collusion and networks of … Indonesia must reform - and clamp down on corruption Given that Jakarta is largely … signal to the bupatis and companies that corruption and collusion is no longer …
It was all going so well for Chevron - a New York court had ruled that a $9.5 billion judgment against it set by Ecuador's supreme court for massive pollution deep in the Amazon was corrupt and fraudulent. But then its star witness broke ranks and admitted, in another court, that he had lied, and the only bribes were coming from Chevron. Will Ecuador's pollution victims finally get justice?
… fabricating an elaborate story of bribery, corruption and ghostwriting to strike back. … more thorough evidence rebutting Chevron's corruption allegations ... There's a very real …
Determined to flood 10,000 hectares of precious rainforest for a power station producing a meager 108MW of power, the Cambodian government has expelled a big 'fishbone in their throat' - eco-defender Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, who has galvanized local and nationwide protests against deforestation, land grabs and official corruption.
… deforestation, land grabs and official corruption. "I am arrested and ready to be … sense, and appears to be a triumph of corruption over wise governance, as it opens … said Alex. "It is just an excuse for further corruption from logging and mining." The …
A growing protest movement is demanding strong controls on international investors and logging companies buying up Romania's forests, writes Raluca Besliu. In its sights is Austria-based Schweighofer, which stands accused of criminal malpractice and accepting illegal timber shipments. The popular outrage stirred up by corporate misdeeds is now stimulating a wider democratic revival.
… of the investigation files from the Anti-Corruption Agency. The law may also cost …
Just as Indonesia's forests are going up in flames, in part as a result of illegal logging on a massive scale, the country's Trade Minister has issued a regulation that would rubber stamp exports of illegal timber - also undermining a timber agreement with the EU that's due to come into force next month.
… Independent Forest Monitoring Network (JPIK) Corruption in high places coud derail flagship …
Forests in Laos are disappearing at a ferocious rate under the impact of rampant illegal logging which accounts for 90% or more of the industry, with lucrative export markets in Vietnam and China, writes Chris Lang.
… by untouchable companies, abetted by corruption. "The timber sectors in Vietnam … by untouchable companies, abetted by corruption. …
Industrial logging in the world's second largest rainforest is out of control, writes Raoul Monsembula, and spells disaster for both wildlife and forest people. There is an alternative: community forestry has just been enshrined in law. But resources must be committed to law enforcement in Congo and abroad, and to empowering forest communities.
… available on permits, production and exports. Corruption is endemic and it appears that …
Forests are the traditional refuge of rebels, dissidents and all who seek freedom from the strictures of civilization, writes Ken Worpole. But for all the idea lives on in our hearts and minds, that role has now been usurped by our cities. Now, just as our forests have been enclosed and subdued, so our cities face a similar fate - one we must resist to preserve our liberty.
… up the cause of justice and fought the law's corruption. "If they evoke associations of … up the cause of justice and fought the law's corruption. …
Hidden away in the pages of UN-speak that make up the Paris Agreement are the makings of global carbon market in which a host of exotic emissions derivatives can be freely traded, writes Steffen Böhm. And it's all going to be a huge and expensive distraction from the real and urgent task of cutting emissions.
… and once in action it was riddled by fraud , corruption , over-allocation of permits and …
Paris has been awash with hype about 'CO2 recycling' and 'carbon neutral' or even 'carbon negative' technologies based on burning millions of trees, writes Rachel Smolker. But the alchemical notion that waste carbon can be spun into corporate gold is hitting serious reality checks. It's time to ditch the fantasies and progress the real solutions: like caring for land, soils, forests and grasslands.
… they are not so amenable to monetization, corruption, or corporate monopolization. Hence … Nor are they amenable to monetization, corruption, or corporate monopoly. …
Malaysia is pushing ahead with its plans for a devastating series of 12 dams in the rainforests of Borneo that will kill a billion trees, bring death to wildlife on a stupendous scale and evict tens of thousands of indigenous people and their communities, writes Jettie Word. Now a new film honours their struggle for land, forest and freedom.
… . Also on The Ecologist : ' Commerce or Corruption? The rainforest dams of Sarawak '. …
Death threats to an indigenous forest defender in Peru have followed his success in closing down an illegal palm oil operation on his tribe's lands carried out by a member company of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, now meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
… in Peru's legal framework and endemic corruption. Since 2010, Peru's government has …
Coming so soon after the Magna Carta celebrations, the eviction and destruction of the Runnymede Eco-village is a parable of our times, writes Nicholas Sebley: a violent assertion of the power of capital over people and community, and part of a deliberate, systematic closure of alternative ways of living outside the mainstream economy.
The cause of the Runnymede eco-villagers is a righteous one Nicholas Sebley | 22nd September 2015 Comment UK Law Politics Human Rights Forests 7-cut.jpg Coming so soon after the Magna Carta …
As indigenous activists opposing hydropower dams on their territories gather this weekend in the rainforests of Sarawak, Malaysia, they have good news to celebrate, writes Rod Harbinson: a giant dam on the Baram river has been put on hold. But the forests are still being logged, local people have been stripped of land rights, and a programme of 12 giant dams is still official policy.
… years a number of revelations have exposed corruption at the highest levels of Sarawak's …
In the battle to save America's real wild west of unlogged forests, grizzly bears, mountain goats, Bull trout, free flowing streams and roadless wilderness, a single person stands out, writes Jeffrey St Clair, for her dedication, courage and remarkable success: Arlene Montgomery of Friends of the Wild Swan, Montana.
Saving the wild Rockies Jeffrey St. Clair | 26th July 2015 Activism Natural World Forests Water Conservation Law USA u-valley-cut.jpg In the battle to save America's real wild west of unlogged …
As Paris prepares for COP21 in Paris, Marc Brightman finds that the city is in the grip of a benign but ignorant authoritarianism that is ready to trample on much-loved green spaces like the Bois Dormoy, reclaimed from dereliction by the multicultural local community, which represent real solutions to the global problems of food, climate, the future of our cities, and our place in nature.
Paris must remember: climate solutions are small, local, green, and begin at home Marc Brightman | 17th June 2015 News Cities Climate Change Unfccc Forests Commons Society France COP21 …
We must beware an 'environmental' agenda that excludes the human dimension, Pope Francis writes in his recent Encyclical: the poor are least to blame for the ecological and climate crises, yet they are its primary victims. Humanity must make enduring decisions about the world we and our children will share.
… more effective controls and working to combat corruption. People may well have a growing …