Search Climate Insights Directory

Friends of the Earth criticizes the first round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, asserting that the process is secretive and designed to benefit corporate CEOs and financiers. The organization warns that the agreement could lead to the rollback of environmental, food safety, and toxic chemical regulations, and calls for greater transparency and the release of draft negotiating texts to protect government authority to address the climate crisis and manage natural resources.

The statement emphasizes the importance of the People's Summit in Rio de Janeiro as a space for grassroots activism and solidarity among those impacted by climate, financial, and food crises. It argues that sustainability is found in solidarity and the implementation of diverse, non-patented solutions rather than in official state-led negotiations. The text highlights the need to protect local environments from corporate pollution, citing oil spill damage in Mage, and calls for the removal of corporate influence from political structures.

This report by Friends of the Earth International compiles experiences from Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the USA, Guatemala, and Switzerland. It argues that food sovereignty is inseparable from the protection of biodiversity and forests, and it documents how local communities—including indigenous peoples and peasant farmers—resist monocultures, land grabbing, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) through agroecology, seed conservation, and community-based land management.

This report by Friends of the Earth International documents community struggles and successes in maintaining food sovereignty and biodiversity across diverse geographic contexts. It examines the negative impacts of industrial monocultures, corporate land grabs, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) while promoting agroecology, seed saving, and community-based forest management as sustainable alternatives. The text emphasizes the role of women and indigenous peoples in protecting ecosystems and argues that food sovereignty is unattainable without the preservation of biological diversity.

The report analyzes the 'Global Europe' strategy as a political and economic tool used by the EU to secure access to raw materials, energy reserves, and open markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It argues that 'Association Agreements' go beyond trade in goods to include the liberalization of services, investments, and government procurement, which the author claims undermines the sovereignty of developing nations. The document highlights specific negative impacts, such as the promotion of agrofuels in Central America, the pressure on African nations to sign Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) to maintain tariff preferences, and the role of European financial institutions like the European Investment Bank in funding extractive projects. It concludes that the strategy prioritizes corporate competitiveness over human rights and environmental sustainability.

The statement highlights recent oil spills in the Indian Ocean, the Philippines, and Lebanon, as well as leaks in Alaska, to illustrate the environmental risks and pollution associated with oil production and use.

A group of physicians urges the Alberta government to establish a sustainability office within Alberta Health Services (AHS) to address energy efficiency and waste management, proposing that funding be provided via grants from the carbon levy to avoid impacting clinical budgets.

The CONNECT 2026 sponsorship brochure details a series of global events designed to bring together senior leaders from the sustainable finance sector to address the climate crisis. The events target a diverse audience of investors, governments, and regulators, with 2025 attendance reaching 1,540 professionals. Sponsorship tiers include Platinum, Gold, Lunch supporter, Awards Drinks and Canape supporter, Exhibitor, and Associate, offering benefits such as speaking slots, branding, and conference registrations. The series also includes the announcement of Climate Bonds Awards.

The document details how fossil fuels cause systemic health damage across their entire value chain, affecting individuals from fetal development through old age. It highlights the disproportionate burden on marginalized communities in 'sacrifice zones' and calls for the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, the cessation of new exploration, and the internalisation of health costs through the 'polluter pays' principle to facilitate a just energy transition.

The 'Artists for a Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative' is an open letter signed by over 200 creators across various disciplines who argue that fossil fuel production is the primary driver of the climate crisis. The signatories demand a coordinated global plan to phase out coal, oil, and gas in an equitable manner and call for other artists to use their platforms to advocate for the treaty. The document highlights the importance of maintaining political momentum from the Santa Marta conference toward Tuvalu 2027.

Friends of the Earth International argues that hydrogen energy is a 'false solution' promoted by the fossil fuel industry to maintain business as usual and distract from the urgent emission cuts required to address the climate crisis.

The document asserts that the 'Just Transition' framework has failed to address patriarchal oppression and systemic injustices linked to the fossil energy system. Based on 2020 webinars with 100 activists from the Friends of the Earth federation and allied organisations, it argues that women—particularly black, indigenous, women of colour, LBTQ, peasant, and working-class women—are central to creating lasting solutions and that a transition cannot occur without a feminist approach to system change.

The document argues for a rights-based approach to conservation, contrasting the effectiveness of governance by Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) with the harms of 'fortress conservation'. It advocates for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs) and sets specific criteria for the quality, connectivity, and governance of protected areas to be counted toward global biodiversity targets.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) advocates for a shift from 'fortress conservation' to a rights-based approach in the design of protected areas (PAs). The document emphasizes that the most effective conservation outcomes occur when lands are governed by indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). It highlights the significance of Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs), which potentially cover 21% of the global territory, and calls for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework to recognize and protect 100% of these areas. FoEI proposes a hierarchy for expanding PAs that prioritizes the recognition of historical IPLC contributions, the protection of critical ecosystems in uninhabited regions, and the improvement of ecological representativeness and connectivity, all while ensuring public funding and the exclusion of biodiversity offsets.

The document argues that the 'COVID crisis' consists of three layers: a viral reality, a systemic crisis rooted in existing inequalities, and a 'power crisis' driven by the strategic responses of powerful actors. It contends that multistakeholderism (MSism)—exemplified by ACT-A and COVAX—serves as a tool for the Global North to maintain corporate profits and the rules of globalisation while bypassing the accountability of the UN system. The author identifies four responses by the powerful: expanding markets, protecting globalisation, a passive 'stand-back' approach that allows mass death in the Global South, and limited mitigation. The report concludes with recommendations to treat health as a global public good and return governance to multilateral frameworks.

Global Witness calls for the acceleration of the Escazú Agreement's implementation to combat the high rate of killings of environmental and land defenders in Latin America. The region accounts for two-thirds of global murders of such defenders. The document highlights specific failures and progress in countries like Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil, urging governments to ensure justice and companies to perform due diligence in extractive projects to prevent further violence.

The document highlights the ongoing state-led intimidation and violence against the Garífuna people in Honduras, specifically citing the July 2020 abduction of four men from the community of Triunfo de la Cruz. It describes a pattern of harassment and criminalization used to displace Indigenous people for commercial interests, such as luxury tourist developments. The text emphasizes that Honduras was the most dangerous country per capita for land and environmental defenders in 2019 and asserts that protecting Indigenous territorial rights is essential for global biodiversity and climate crisis mitigation.

Global Witness and 144 NGOs have called on Brazil's Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, to ratify the Escazú Agreement. The letter argues that ratification is essential to protect land and environmental defenders, particularly in the Brazilian Amazon, where Global Witness reports the highest number of defender deaths globally between 2012 and 2021. The agreement aims to guarantee access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The document highlights that 322 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Colombia over the last ten years, alongside numerous non-lethal attacks such as threats and criminalization. It argues that the ratification of the Escazú Agreement—the first regional treaty for Latin America and the Caribbean on human rights and the environment—is essential to mandate the prevention and investigation of attacks against defenders. While noting that countries like Mexico, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina have already ratified the agreement, it points to the government of Gustavo Petro and initiatives like the 'Somos Defensores' program and its emergency plan as reasons for optimism in establishing a safe environment for environmental participation.

The document identifies that health vulnerability in the Peruvian Amazon is multidimensional, driven by social, environmental, and institutional factors. It highlights that the climate crisis exacerbates existing risks, particularly for pregnant women, children, and the elderly, while structural failures in water, sanitation, and waste management are critical drivers of disease transmission. To address this, the project developed a Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (IVM) and territorial maps to inform intersectoral action plans and community-led prevention strategies, emphasizing the importance of youth participation and cross-border cooperation in border regions.