The Canadian mining company Belo Sun is attempting to build the Volta Grande gold mine which, if built, would be the largest open-pit gold mine in Brazil. Instead of responding to legitimate concerns about the environmental and human rights impacts of the project, the company has filed a criminal lawsuit against local community members and…
Read MorePRESS RELEASE | Vietnamese Climate Defenders Honored in New 1-Minute Video During Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FEBRUARY 9, 2024 #StandwithBach #FreeHong MEDIA CONTACT: maia@ripplestrategies.com www.standwithbach.org Please Share: English Version Here; Vietnamese Version Here Today, in time for Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year which begins on February 10, the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition, a group of over 30 international climate justice and human rights organizations, launched this video…
Read MorePress Release | COP28: Civil Society Groups Convene at COP28 to Demand Urgent Release of Vietnam’s Climate Defenders
For Immediate Release: 6 December 2023 Dubai, UAE – Following last week’s release of Vietnam’s Resource Mobilization Plan – an implementation plan detailing how the country intends to operationalize its energy transition package – civil society organizations including 350.org, Global Witness, International Rivers, and CEED International took part in events at COP28 to demand the…
Read MorePRESS RELEASE | Climate Justice and Human Rights Groups Worldwide Launch One-Month Relay Hunger Strike Calling for Urgent Release of Vietnamese Climate Leader, Dang Dinh Bach
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 24, 2023 MEDIA CONTACT: v4climateleaders@gmail.com Climate justice and human rights organizations from around the globe are rallying around prominent Vietnamese environmental lawyer, Mr. Dang Dinh Bach, on the two-year anniversary of his arrest with the launch of the #StandwithBach hunger strike. A public letter was also released today by over 80…
Read MorePRESS RELEASE | UN Working Group Finds Imprisonment of Vietnamese Climate Leader, Dang Dinh Bach, Arbitrary and Calls for His “Immediate and Unconditional Release”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2023 MEDIA CONTACT: v4climateleaders@gmail.com International Coalition of Climate Justice and Human Rights Organizations to Launch Peaceful, Solidarity Hunger Strike Campaign with Bach May 24 – June 24 and Echo Call for Immediate Release from Prison The UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention just released an opinion regarding the…
Read MoreFinancing Just Energy Transitions: the Importance of Ensuring Civic Space in Addressing the Climate Crisis
International Rivers’ Josh Klemm moderated the panel, “Financing Just Energy Transitions: the Importance of Ensuring Civic Space in Addressing the Climate Crisis” at the World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC on April 14. Read Josh Klemm’s opening remarks: Welcome to those in the room and joining online. Today’s event comes at an important moment….
Read MoreDefenders of Brazilian Amazon travel to Europe to Denounce Threats and Rights Violations by Industrial and Illegal Mining
A delegation comprised of Brazilian Indigenous and community leaders from the Amazonian Xingu and Tapajós regions is traveling to Belgium and Switzerland to meet with European Union officials and denounce the invasions in their territories by mining companies such as the Canada’s Belo Sun and by illegal gold miners, who are driving the genocide of…
Read MoreInternational Rivers Condemns and Denounces the Brutal Murder of an Environmental Defender’s Family in Amazon region, Brazil
International Rivers, Brazilian Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), Pará’s Society in Defense of Human Rights (SDDH) and several other national and international organizations condemns and internationally denounces the brutal murder environmental defenders family in the Xingu region, Brazil. Last Sunday, the bodies of José Gomes (also known as Zé do Lago), his wife Márcia Nunes and…
Read MoreAn urgent call to protect Brazil’s human rights and environmental defenders
By: Brent Millikan, Latin America Program Director In response to the brutal assassination of Dilma Ferreira Silva, a leader of Brazil’s Movement of Dam-Affected Peoples (MAB) in the area impacted by the notorious Tucuruí hydroelectric dam, a joint statement drafted by International Rivers and AIDA, and co-signed by over 100 human rights and environmental organizations from 25 countries,…
Read MoreRiver Defenders Gather Forces in Georgia
By: Kate Horner, former Executive Director & Igor Vejnovic This article originally appeared on Open Democracy. This week, activists from across the world are meeting in Tbilisi to share their experiences of resisting hydropower projects and the money that supports them. Free-flowing rivers are often the unsung heroes of the natural world. They support immense biodiversity, as…
Read MoreA River of Impunity: The Situation for Environmental Defenders Opposing Hydropower Projects
By: Maureen Harris, Programs Director “I cannot freely walk on my territory or swim in the sacred river and I am separated from my children because of the threats. I cannot live in peace, I am always thinking about being killed or kidnapped. But I refuse to go into exile. I am a human rights fighter…
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