Search Climate Insights Directory

The report examines the disproportionate influence of the military sector, particularly in the UK and USA, on science, engineering, and technology (SET). It highlights how military funding and corporate lobbying shape research agendas, often marginalizing broader security concepts like climate change and poverty alleviation. The document calls for a significant shift of UK military R&D funds—suggesting one-third to one-half of the budget—toward civil R&D for peacebuilding and environmental protection, while urging greater transparency and a cessation of new nuclear weapons development.

The report identifies four critically stressed ecosystem services in Kenya: maintenance of biodiversity, food and fibre provision, water supply, purification and regulation, and fuel provision. These stresses are present across nearly all provinces, directly threatening the ability of the population to be adequately nourished, access clean water, obtain energy for cooking and warmth, and earn a livelihood. The document highlights a critical cycle where environmental degradation, such as deforestation and soil fertility loss, exacerbates poverty, particularly for women and children who bear the burden of gathering scarce resources.

The report identifies critical stresses on biodiversity, food and fibre provision, water supply, and fuel provision across Mali, linking these ecological declines to threats in human nourishment, water access, energy, and livelihoods. It highlights the southern regions of Sikasso, Mopti, and Segou as high-priority areas due to the convergence of high population density, poverty, and deteriorating ecosystem services.

The report identifies four critically stressed ecosystem services in Rwanda: maintenance of biodiversity, food and fibre provision, water supply, purification and regulation, and fuel provision. These stresses are linked to threats in human well-being, specifically the ability to be adequately nourished, access clean water, obtain energy for warmth and cooking, and earn a livelihood. The analysis highlights Kibungo and Butare as priority areas where multiple ecosystem services and well-being constituents are simultaneously under threat. The report argues that increasing food production through land expansion is unfeasible and recommends agricultural intensification and improved watershed management.

The report identifies four critically stressed ecosystem services in Uganda: maintenance of biodiversity, food and fibre provision, water supply, purification and regulation, and fuel provision. These stressors are linked to threats in human well-being, specifically the ability to be adequately nourished, access clean water, obtain energy for cooking and warmth, and earn a livelihood. The analysis highlights regional disparities, noting that while all four regions face these stresses, the Northern region suffers from the highest incidence of poverty and food insecurity, while the Western region shows high rates of child stunting.

The report identifies a warming and potentially drier trend for the Great Lakes region, predicting significant temperature increases and shifts in precipitation patterns by the end of the 21st century. These changes are expected to disrupt aquatic ecosystems, reduce forest diversity, and create economic risks for agriculture and shipping. The document advocates for a three-pronged approach: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing local environmental pressures, and planning for climate adaptation.

The document details the struggle to protect spring-run Chinook salmon in Butte Creek, California, from the effects of water diversions by Pacific Gas & Energy's DeSabla-Centerville hydroelectric project. It highlights the species' vulnerability to low flows and high temperatures, the role of the Centerville Head Dam in blocking habitat access, and the legal pressure applied by Earthjustice to secure adequate water for spawning fish.

This report by Friends of the Earth International asserts that environmental rights—including the right to a sustainable lifestyle, a healthy environment, water access, and food security—are integral to human rights. It details specific conflicts, such as the Ava Guarani's struggle for ancestral lands in Argentina, the impact of Shell's pollution in Curaçao, and the fight against GMO contamination in Mexico. The text criticizes neoliberal economic globalization for enabling multinational corporations to operate with impunity, often displacing indigenous populations and degrading ecosystems. It calls for a new ethics of environmental justice and the implementation of legally binding international conventions to protect marginalized communities from environmental aggression.

The report by Friends of the Earth International examines the intersection of human and environmental rights, detailing case studies of corporate and state abuses. It advocates for a framework of environmental justice that includes the right to sustainable livelihoods, clean environments, water, and food security, while emphasizing the need for transparency, collective rights, and legal redress for climate refugees and ecological debt.

The report examines the shrimp industry in Bangladesh, focusing on the tension between international food safety standards (SPS/HACCP) and sustainable production. It finds that while processing plants have complied with these standards, small-scale farmers lack the resources to do so, creating a risk that the industry will shift toward environmentally damaging intensive farming to reduce costs and risks. The author suggests that improving management and training for extensive farmers is a more sustainable alternative to intensification.

The statement by Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) criticises the US government's proposal for a manned mission to Mars, citing an estimated cost of $1 trillion. SGR argues that these funds would be better spent on global aid—such as providing clean water, eliminating hunger, and achieving universal literacy—and on mitigating climate change. The document further links space exploration goals to military interests and highlights the rising costs of climate-related disasters and biodiversity loss.

The report by Friends of the Earth International contends that IFIs, including multilateral development banks and export credit agencies, facilitate a destructive export-led development model. Through various case studies in countries like Peru, Colombia, and the Philippines, the document illustrates how these investments lead to environmental catastrophes, human rights violations, and the marginalization of indigenous peoples and women. It specifically highlights the contradiction between IFI funding of fossil fuels and global climate goals, ultimately recommending a phased withdrawal from extractive sectors in favor of decentralized renewable energy initiatives.

The report presents twelve reasons why large hydroelectric projects are incompatible with the goals of renewable energy initiatives. It contends that these projects fail to alleviate poverty, divert funding from cleaner decentralized technologies, and often suffer from underestimated costs and overestimated benefits. The text highlights severe social and environmental impacts, including the forced displacement of 40 to 80 million people and the emission of greenhouse gases from reservoirs. It further argues that large dams increase vulnerability to climate change, are inflexible and costly to build, and are not truly renewable due to sedimentation.

The report critiques the World Bank's renewed focus on high-risk/high-reward projects in extractive industries, forestry, and large dams. It argues that the Bank's history is marked by 'institutional amnesia,' where past failures—such as mass displacement and environmental devastation—are ignored in favor of an 'approval culture' that overstates benefits and understates costs. The authors highlight specific cases like the Sardar Sarovar Dam in India and the Chad-Cameroon pipeline to demonstrate how the poor and the environment bear the risks while private investors reap the rewards. The report recommends a shift toward low-risk, community-driven development and the establishment of reparations for past damages.

The document defines 'ecological debt' as the cumulative responsibility of industrialised countries for environmental destruction caused by their production and consumption patterns. It argues that the Global North has exceeded its 'environmental space' through looting, damaging natural environments, overusing greenhouse gas sinks, dumping toxic waste, and biopiracy. To address this, the text advocates for a 'popular education' approach—rooted in the work of Paulo Freire—to build solidarity between Scottish communities facing environmental injustice and those in the Global South. The handbook includes local Scottish examples of debt repayment (such as the Jubilee Scotland and Slow Food movements) and international case studies illustrating ecological debt in banana production, hydroelectric projects in Uganda, industrial agriculture in India, mining in Canada, and oil extraction in Ecuador. It concludes with a toolbox of interactive games designed to facilitate workshops on resource consumption and global inequality.

The document argues that the State of Chile violated the fundamental rights of the Mapuche-Pehuenche communities of Ralco-Lepoy and Quepuca Ralco through the construction of the Ralco hydroelectric plant, which led to the destruction of ancestral lands, cemeteries, and ceremonial spaces. It contends that domestic legal remedies in Chile have been ineffective, illusory, or subject to unjustifiable delays, thereby satisfying the requirements for the admissibility of the petition before the IACHR. The text further argues that the project was economically inefficient and driven by the monopolistic interests of the company Endesa rather than public interest. Additionally, it details systemic discrimination against indigenous peoples in Chile's political and judicial systems, including the use of anti-terrorist and state security laws to criminalize indigenous demands.

The report 'Failing the Challenge' by Friends of the Earth International criticizes Shell for prioritizing short-term profits over human rights and environmental protection. It documents a pattern of pollution, health crises, and human rights abuses across several countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, the US, and the Philippines. The authors argue that Shell engages in 'greenwashing' by using PR to mask its continued expansion of fossil fuel production and its failure to hold itself accountable for local damages. The report calls for changes to UK company law to ensure corporations are legally responsible for their global impacts.

The document outlines a global water crisis driven by overconsumption, pollution, and flawed management models. It strongly opposes the market-based approach to water management promoted by transnational corporations and international financial institutions, arguing that privatization often excludes the poor and ignores ecological health. Instead, it proposes a framework where water is treated as a human right and a public resource, prioritizing basic needs and ecosystem protection over industrial and commercial interests. The briefing calls for democratic, participatory governance, the protection of traditional management systems, and the cancellation of external debts for developing nations to enable investment in public water services.

The document analyzes how transnational corporations, multilateral financial institutions, and national governments drive deforestation and biodiversity loss through industrial monocultures and extractive industries. It presents case studies from Costa Rica, Argentina, Colombia, Indonesia, Paraguay, Cameroon, South Africa, and Ecuador to illustrate the displacement of indigenous peoples and the destruction of ecosystems. The report concludes by recommending a legally binding international framework for corporate regulation and the recognition of indigenous land rights to protect forest biodiversity.

The report by Friends of the Earth International details 22 campaigns against multinational corporations across various sectors—including mining, oil, logging, and biotechnology—that are accused of destroying biodiversity and harming local communities. It highlights the failure of corporate self-regulation and 'greenwashing' strategies, specifically criticizing the outcomes of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the approach of the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit. The document calls for the recognition of 'ecological debt' owed by Northern industrial nations to the Global South and demands a binding legal framework to ensure corporate accountability, including the right of communities to be consulted and to receive compensation for damages.