Press release | Financial institutions warned of risks in financing controversial railroad project to export soybeans from the Brazilian Amazon

Press release | Financial institutions warned of risks in financing controversial railroad project to export soybeans from the Brazilian Amazon

São Paulo and Brasilia, July 13, 2021 – A coalition of civil society organizations delivered today a warning letter to public and private financial institutions regarding a series of risks – social, environmental, legal, financial and reputational – related to their potential involvement in Ferrogrão, a proposed ‘greenfield’ railroad project aimed at promoting exports of…

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Press Release  | Coalition of International Organizations Files an Amicus Curiae Brief Calling for the Recognition of the Intrinsic Rights of the Marañón River in Peru

Press Release | Coalition of International Organizations Files an Amicus Curiae Brief Calling for the Recognition of the Intrinsic Rights of the Marañón River in Peru

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 12th, 2021 Contacts: Constanza Prieto Figelist (cpfigelist@earthlaw.org, +1 202-621-3877), Monti Aguirre (monti@internationalrivers.org, +1 707-591-1220) Lima, Peru—On July 5th, a coalition of international organizations filed an Amicus Curiae brief before the Celendín Court of Justice, Civil Court, requesting the recognition of the inherent rights of the Marañón River associated with the exercise…

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Our World Heritage is deeply tied to rivers and they need protection from dams

Our World Heritage is deeply tied to rivers and they need protection from dams

by Gary Lee, Southeast Asia Program Director for International Rivers, Sarinee Achavanuntakul, Head of Research for  Fair Finance Thailand, and  Eugene Simonov, Co-founder, Coordinator and Conservation Science Expert for Rivers without Boundaries. This article originally appeared in Mongabay This month’s World Heritage meeting represents a critical opportunity for the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) to protect…

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Press Release | South Africa’s energy crisis: New study confirms Inga 3 hydropower would cost South Africans an extra R10 billion per year

Press Release | South Africa’s energy crisis: New study confirms Inga 3 hydropower would cost South Africans an extra R10 billion per year

Today, International Rivers and WoMin African Alliance published a new report, INGA 3: Too High a Cost – A study of the Socio-Economic Costs of the Inga 3 Dam for South Africa. The study, conducted by financial experts from UK-based TMP Systems, provides the first authoritative accounting of the true costs to South Africa of…

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STATEMENT | Fortescue Metals Group’s Plan to Develop Grand Inga Hydro Scheme Won’t Deliver Green Energy for DRC

STATEMENT | Fortescue Metals Group’s Plan to Develop Grand Inga Hydro Scheme Won’t Deliver Green Energy for DRC

International Rivers expresses its profound concerns over the announcement that Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has entered into an agreement with the government of  the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to develop the Grand Inga project for hydrogen production. As noted by concerned observers in DRC, the FMG deal bypasses key procedural requirements to ensure that…

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Asian Development Bank: It’s Time to Stop Financing Large-scale Hydropower and other False Climate Solutions

Asian Development Bank: It’s Time to Stop Financing Large-scale Hydropower and other False Climate Solutions

Yesterday, International Rivers’ Southeast Asia Program Director Gary Lee joined partners at the NGO Forum on ADB press conference. The science and historical evidence is clear–if we want to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis, increase resiliency and food security, and protect the rights of people, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) energy policy must prohibit…

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Open Letter in Support of the Munduruku People in Jacareacanga, in the state of Pará

Open Letter in Support of the Munduruku People in Jacareacanga, in the state of Pará

We, Indigenous leaders, representatives of civil society organizations, and members of the scientific community, express, through this letter, our repudiation of the attacks suffered by the Munduruku Indigenous women in Jacareacanga (southwestern Pará), on May 26 of this year. We also declare our full support for operations to combat illegal mineral exploration carried out inside…

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Rivers Are Key to Restoring the World’s Biodiversity

Rivers Are Key to Restoring the World’s Biodiversity

By: Alessandra Korap Munduruku, Darryl Knudsen, Irikefe V. Dafe This article was originally featured on Independent Media Institute Biodiversity is plummeting, but restoring rivers could quickly reverse this disastrous trend. In October 2021, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet in China to adopt a new post-2020 global biodiversity framework to reverse biodiversity loss and its impacts on ecosystems,…

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United for Restoration and a Just Recovery: How protecting biodiversity and advancing climate and economic justice is the recovery we need

United for Restoration and a Just Recovery: How protecting biodiversity and advancing climate and economic justice is the recovery we need

This year, Earth Day and UN World Environment Day both focus on restoration, for good reason; 97% of Earth’s land area may no longer be ecologically intact. If we don’t urgently make recovery and investment choices that change course, our ecosystems, and humanity itself are on a path to collapse.  We’re facing multiple crises: a global pandemic,…

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A global call to action on the situation in Myanmar

A global call to action on the situation in Myanmar

We stand with our partners and friends in Myanmar. We mourn the tragic loss of life and condemn the brutal violence and unimaginable terror they are facing. We applaud their incredible courage.  We urge the international and business community to take immediate action to support the brave people of Myanmar in their struggle against this…

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