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Natural Justice's 2024-2028 strategy focuses on empowering African indigenous peoples and local communities to defend their land, resource, and human rights against environmental threats and extractive projects. The organization employs a 'litigation plus' approach, combining strategic legal action with community legal education and advocacy. Key priorities include fighting fossil fuel expansion, securing land tenure, and protecting traditional knowledge, with a specific emphasis on feminist leadership and the decolonization of environmental justice.

The report examines the socio-environmental crises and communication barriers in the Amazonian regions of Ecuador, Brazil, and Colombia. It highlights how extractivism, deforestation, and political influence marginalize local voices, particularly those of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. The document argues that community radio is the most effective tool for amplifying local knowledge and ensuring participation in climate policy, provided that challenges regarding financial sustainability, language diversity, and safety for journalists are addressed.

The report examines how extractive industries, deforestation, and political interests degrade the Amazon rainforest and marginalize local voices in Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. It highlights the critical role of community radio in amplifying indigenous and grassroots knowledge, while identifying systemic barriers such as lack of connectivity, language discrimination, and safety risks for environmental defenders.

The Solidarity for Environmental Defenders (STAND) initiative, a partnership between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Alliance for Land, Indigenous, and Environmental Defenders (ALLIED), provides support to local environmental defenders (LEDs) who face threats, criminalization, and violence. The initiative focuses on capacity building, financial support through a Small Grants Fund for Defenders, and the creation of collaborative partnerships to improve legal accountability and security for defenders in countries with weak governance or high extractive activity. The program operates in Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Liberia.

The author argues that Germany is struggling to balance its 'exportist' economic model and corporate interests with a more recent emphasis on a 'rules-based order' and human rights in its foreign policy. Historically, German engagement in Africa has been characterized by a light footprint and a focus on extracting raw materials, such as oil and minerals. The paper suggests that Germany should move away from this extractivist approach and instead support African-led initiatives for domestic resource mobilisation and regional complementarities, particularly through the AfCFTA, to foster a more just and green transition.

The document examines the challenges of transitioning away from thermal coal in Colombia's Caribbean region, highlighting the tension between national decarbonization goals and regional economic dependence. It identifies diverse visions of a 'just transition'—ranging from narrow workforce support to broad socio-ecological transformation—and analyzes the economic, environmental, and sociocultural barriers that hinder progress. Using the case of Prodeco's mine closures in Cesar, the paper illustrates the risks of unplanned transitions and the influence of political-economic elites in maintaining extractive models.

The document critiques the global hydrogen industry, asserting that most production relies on fossil fuels and that even 'green' hydrogen is inefficient and risks perpetuating neocolonial extractivism. It argues that hydrogen serves as a distraction from necessary climate action and a tool for the gas industry to justify new infrastructure. The author calls for the elimination of fossil-fuel-based hydrogen and a transition to community-owned renewable energy and agroecology.

Friends of the Earth International positions hydrogen as a dangerous distraction from real climate action, asserting that most production relies on fossil fuels and that even 'green' hydrogen is inefficient and risks perpetuating neocolonial extractivism. The document critiques various 'colors' of hydrogen, warns against carbon capture and storage (CCS) as an unproven patch, and calls for a systemic shift toward energy sovereignty and community-led renewables instead of industrial hydrogen projects.

The document critiques the promotion of hydrogen as a clean energy alternative, asserting that the vast majority of global production relies on fossil fuels. It categorizes different 'colors' of hydrogen, arguing that grey, blue, black/brown, and turquoise versions perpetuate fossil fuel dependency, while green hydrogen is inefficient and risks replicating neocolonial extractivism. The paper highlights the high water and energy requirements of electrolysis and the unproven nature of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). It concludes that hydrogen serves as a distraction from deep systemic change and recommends a coordinated phase-out of fossil fuels and a transition to community-owned renewable energy.

The text defends environmental protest and civil disobedience as essential democratic instruments for addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. It highlights the role of movements like Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion in mainstreaming climate action while warning against a global trend of criminalising activists through repressive legislation. The author criticises 'greenwashing' and 'citizenwashing' by private and public sectors, particularly within the COP framework, and calls on the EU to uphold the Aarhus Convention to ensure genuine public participation in environmental decision-making.

The document provides a comprehensive legal framework for environmental and land rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), detailing the risks they face from extractive industries, agribusiness, and conservation efforts. It outlines fundamental rights guaranteed by the DRC Constitution and international treaties, and lists specific judicial and non-judicial mechanisms for seeking justice, including the role of civil society and international bodies like the UN and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

The report analyzes the DRC's development challenges, including endemic corruption, high fertility rates, and severe infrastructure deficits. It argues that while the country possesses immense mineral and agricultural wealth, it suffers from the 'paradox of plenty.' The analysis suggests that a comprehensive strategy combining improved governance, human capital investment, agricultural intensification, and economic diversification could significantly reduce extreme poverty and increase GDP by 2050 compared to the current trajectory.

Friends of the Earth International argues that the current global crises—climate, biodiversity, and social inequality—are rooted in a capitalist model, industrial agriculture, and patriarchal relations. The organization advocates for a transition toward a 'new economy' based on solidarity, food sovereignty, and community-led energy and forest management. It emphasizes the necessity of dismantling corporate power and oppression to create a world where human rights and planetary boundaries are central to governance.

The document outlines a framework for a Just Energy Transition (JET) in the Global South, specifically focusing on Latin America, the Caribbean (LAC), and Africa. It argues for a comprehensive transformation across social, economic, and environmental spheres, emphasizing the phase-out of all fossil fuels by 2040. For LAC, the brief highlights a strong dependence on extractive industries and the need for economic diversification. For Africa, it emphasizes the urgency of energy access, as 600 million people lack electricity, and warns against increasing debt through loans for transition. Both regions call for increased social participation, the protection of human rights, and the sustainable management of transition minerals. The brief concludes with specific demands for COP28, including new and additional funding from developed nations and the transfer of renewable energy technology as a public good.

The document describes governance in the DR Congo as being dominated by rent-seeking elites and systemic corruption, particularly within the extractive industries. It highlights the failure of decentralisation efforts, where the central government in Kinshasa maintains control by withholding funds from provinces. Despite recent commitments from the presidency to combat corruption through the creation of the Agence de prévention et de lutte contre la corruption (APLC), the report notes that the country remains an 'anocracy' with a significant gap between nominal electoral practices and substantive liberal democracy.

The policy brief highlights the increasing violence and criminalization of Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs) globally and specifically in Kenya. It identifies a lack of specific national legislation for EHRD protection, corruption, and restrictive laws as key enablers of these threats. The document recommends the enactment of a dedicated national protection law, the domestication of international human rights obligations, and the repeal of laws that limit civic space to ensure the safety of activists and the rule of law in environmental governance.

The report details a stakeholder event focused on overcoming the 'pattern of inaction' regarding gender impact assessments (GIAs) in mining. It identifies systemic barriers to GIA adoption, such as gender bias and a focus on permitting over community mitigation, while highlighting successful models from Canada, Mongolia, and Uganda. The event emphasizes the need for collaborative, experiential guidance and the institutionalization of gender considerations to prevent 'genderwashing' and ensure sustainable progress.

The document contends that the 'circular economy' concept has been co-opted by the plastics industry to justify continued production through a reliance on recycling and thermal processing. It argues that plastics are fundamentally linear due to their fossil fuel origins, toxic additives, and material degradation during recycling. The brief advocates for a global agreement that caps plastics production by 2025, eliminates hazardous chemicals, and prioritizes reuse and redesign over waste management.

Latin America possesses significant potential to lead in renewable energy, with over 319 GW of prospective utility-scale solar and wind capacity that could increase the region's current capacity by more than 460% by 2030. While Brazil, Chile, and Colombia are accelerating their buildouts and are on track to meet national targets, Mexico's progress has stalled due to policy shifts favoring state-owned fossil fuel entities. The report highlights the role of solar and wind in diversifying energy matrices to reduce reliance on drought-prone hydropower and the emerging economic opportunity of green hydrogen exports.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative condemns the violent repression of protesters in Peru under President Dina Boluarte, linking the political crisis to a 'colonial heritage' of extractive, fossil fuel-dependent economies. The statement argues that the systematic plundering of Andean and Amazonian territories for minerals, oil, and gas by elites in Lima has fueled inequality and racism. The network calls for a just transition away from fossil fuel dependency, the recognition of Peru's plurinational character, and the establishment of a system based on social and climate justice.