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This report by Friends of the Earth International highlights the 'ecological war' waged by extractive industries, detailing the deaths and repression of activists in countries such as Nigeria, the Philippines, and Colombia. It argues that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a myth used to mask systemic abuses and calls for an end to fossil fuel addiction and the protection of indigenous territories.

The document details a high-level policy dialogue in Johannesburg focused on the complementary roles of traditional and emerging powers in Africa's development. It highlights the different priorities of the EU (governance and human rights) versus China, India, and Brazil (infrastructure and equipment), while emphasizing that Africa requires a coordinated engagement policy to avoid a 'new scramble for Africa'. The report explores triangular cooperation, sustainable natural resource management through initiatives like the ICGLR, and the challenges of regional integration and infrastructure funding, noting an annual infrastructure shortfall of US$43 billion.

The report examines the surge of foreign direct investment in African farmland and water, often termed "land grabs," and its negative impacts on local communities, human rights, and food security. It identifies three main types of investors: food-insecure states, western agribusinesses, and financial sector actors. The document highlights systemic failures, including lack of transparency, weak land tenure laws, and the marginalization of women. It proposes a role for parliamentarians as watchdogs and legislators to ensure free, prior and informed consent and transparency. Key recommendations include land tenure reform, the potential for a moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions, and the adoption of inclusive business models to align investment with national development strategies and the Maputo Declaration.

The document details the consequences of a surge in foreign land acquisitions in Africa, driven by global food and energy demands. It highlights the erosion of local land rights, lack of transparency in contracts, and the marginalization of women. It proposes a parliamentary roadmap including land reform, mandatory community consent, and a potential moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions to ensure investments benefit local populations.

The document analyzes the surge of foreign direct investment in African farmland and water, often termed 'land grabbing', highlighting the systemic lack of transparency and the violation of local land rights. It identifies three types of investors—food-insecure states, agribusinesses, and financial speculators—and examines the legal frameworks that often prioritize investor protections over community rights. The report advocates for a parliamentary role in ensuring social inclusion, promoting inclusive business models, and implementing the Maputo Declaration's agricultural goals. It concludes with a draft resolution calling for a moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions until a proper governance framework is established.

The project transformed local leaders into advocates for the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV) through capacity-building workshops and community-led advocacy campaigns. Key achievements include a significant increase in HIV status disclosure rates from 48% to 93% and the reduction of discriminatory practices in hospitals and housing. The initiative successfully engaged diverse stakeholders, including religious leaders and 'prayer camp' prophets, to foster a climate of acceptance and support for PLHIV.

A coalition of international, regional, and local NGOs calls on the Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the Special Procedure regarding the impact of hazardous substances and wastes on human rights. The document argues that the mismanagement of toxic products severely impacts the rights to health, an adequate standard of living, and life, often beginning with a violation of the right to access information. It highlights a gap in existing international chemical instruments, such as the Basel, Stockholm, and Rotterdam Conventions, which do not examine human rights effects, and positions the Special Procedure as critical for mainstreaming human rights into these frameworks and institutions.

The report finds that while Lesotho has established necessary legal and policy frameworks, actual implementation of APRM recommendations is weak and lacks direct linkage to the APRM process. The country received an overall 'orange minus' rating, indicating some progress but significant gaps in execution and 'branding' of initiatives as APRM-related.

The document argues that the international community's approach to Somali piracy has prioritised military deterrence and legal accountability over human rights, leading to a 'catch and release' policy or the rendering of suspects to regional courts with inadequate legal frameworks. It specifically examines Kenya's role as a primary prosecution hub, highlighting a lack of domesticated maritime law, systemic corruption, and appalling prison conditions. The author contends that these failures, combined with the failure to prosecute onshore sponsors of piracy, undermine the credibility of counter-piracy efforts and may fuel further instability.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is a global federation of 76 autonomous environmental groups with over 2 million members. Founded in 1971, the organization has evolved from a small group of activists into a decentralized network that prioritizes environmental and social justice. FoEI's current strategy, 'mobilise, resist, transform', focuses on challenging the neoliberal economic model, which it identifies as the driver of climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion. The federation advocates for key concepts such as 'environmental space', 'ecological debt', and 'food sovereignty' to create sustainable societies. Its work spans several core areas, including climate and energy justice, forest protection, food sovereignty, and resisting extractive industries like mining, oil, and gas.

The report argues for a 'symbiosis' of indigenous wisdom and scientific data to build community resilience in Central America. It details the holistic worldview of indigenous peoples, who view climate change as a result of human imbalance with 'Mother Earth'. The study provides a synergy model linking biodiversity, DRR, and CC, and documents success stories where traditional knowledge—such as interpreting natural indicators or using ancestral seeds—effectively mitigated disaster impacts. It concludes that indigenous peoples must be treated as active stakeholders and decision-makers in public policy rather than mere objects of projects.

The document presents a satirical or corrective 'erratum' to Shell's 2010 annual report, detailing systemic failures in environmental protection and human rights. It lists specific cases of pollution in Nigeria, Curaçao, and Canada, labour abuses in Brazil, and the risks of high-volume fracking. The report proposes a set of 'Key Performance Indicators' for 2011, including a 5% annual decrease in absolute CO2 emissions and a commitment to invest 50% of annual profits into wind and solar power.

The Cancun LCA Outcome represents the first international climate agreement to recognize the human rights impacts of climate change, explicitly stating that Parties should "fully respect human rights in all climate change-related actions." While the document marks progress by referencing UN Human Rights Council Resolution 10/4 and establishing safeguards for REDD and the Green Climate Fund, it fails to acknowledge broader obligations to "protect, promote and fulfill" rights or explicitly guarantee procedural rights like access to information and justice. The analysis highlights that these rights-related provisions have not yet been fully operationalized within UNFCCC bodies.

The Center for International Environmental Law, on behalf of La Mesa, requests amicus curiae status in the Pac Rim v. El Salvador case. They argue that the dispute is a political disagreement over sustainable development and public policy rather than a legal dispute over a specific government measure. The document highlights severe environmental risks associated with the proposed El Dorado mine, including threats to the Rio Lempa basin and local aquifers, and alleges that Pac Rim's activities have contributed to community violence and the murder of environmental defenders. Legally, the amici contend that Pac Rim's last-minute corporate reorganization to gain CAFTA benefits is an abuse of process and that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction under the ICSID Convention and CAFTA.

The document is a request and supporting brief from a coalition of Salvadoran civil society organizations (La Mesa) seeking to intervene in the Pac Rim Cayman LLC v. Republic of El Salvador arbitration. The authors argue that the claim is an abuse of process and that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction because the conflict is fundamentally a political debate about metal mining and sustainable development, not a legal dispute over a specific government measure. They highlight severe environmental risks associated with the El Dorado mine, including threats to the Lempa River basin and local aquifers, and document a pattern of violence and intimidation against anti-mining activists in El Salvador.

The document argues that the IFC's draft Sustainability Framework fails to adequately protect human rights, noting that references to human rights were removed from previous drafts. The signatories call for mandatory human rights due diligence for both the IFC and its clients, alignment with the UN 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' framework, and specific safeguards regarding water rights, gender impacts, forced evictions, and environmental damage.

The document details WWF's progress in operationalizing its indigenous peoples' policy through the creation of focal point networks, the adoption of new social policies on poverty and human rights, and the establishment of the Social Development for Conservation (SD4C) team. It highlights specific country-level initiatives in regions such as the Amazon, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia, while noting that the implementation of an internal complaints resolution process remains a priority for 2011.

The document explores the intersection of climate change and the right to development (RTD), arguing that RTD is not a 'right to pollute' but a framework for a 'technological leap' toward non-carbon development. It emphasizes that industrialized countries bear the responsibility for providing financial and technological support to developing nations. The author advocates for development models integrated with biological cycles, such as agroecology, and critiques carbon-based industrial models like the American Corn Belt. The briefing also evaluates the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under RTD criteria, finding uneven benefit distribution and a lack of human rights considerations. Finally, it positions RTD as a 'moral compass' for the transition to a green economy, referencing the Rio+20 process and the Cancun outcomes of the UNFCCC.

The text describes a divide between the official Mining Indaba in Cape Town and the concurrent Alternative Mining Indaba. While the main event focused on investment and corporate sustainability, the alternative event highlighted systemic issues including environmental pollution in Tanzania, lack of community consultation, and the marginalization of civil society through high registration fees and restrictive questioning formats during Corporate Social Responsibility sessions.

A coalition of environmental and human rights organizations is challenging the registration of the Barro Blanco Hydroelectric Project (PA #3237) in Western Panama. The groups argue that the project's additionality is questionable and raise serious concerns regarding the lack of public consultation, the potential misuse of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) for community compensation, and human rights abuses by GENISA against the Ngobe indigenous peoples.