sigrid rausing trust
We are grateful to Sigrid Rausing Trust for supporting the following projects in 2007:
world social forum in nairobi
The Friends of the Earth International delegation to the World Social Forum 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya included some 30 people, including community representatives from Nigeria and South Africa.
togo: generating energy to fuel campaigns
Electricity shortages are a common phenomenon in many West African countries, specifically Bénin, Togo and Ghana. This leads to frequent and frustrating periods when computers, fax machines and lights can not be used.
foei report exposes failure of gm crops
In January 2007, Friends of the Earth International released a new report demonstrating how genetically modified (GM) crops have failed to address the main challenges facing farmers around the world.
report: voices from the front lines of climate change
A 2007 report from Friends of the Earth International provides nine case studies of climate change impacts from countries around the globe. Looking at impacts and adaptations, the case studies also feature testimonies which provide insight into dramatic first-hand experience of the devastation of climate change.
brazil: awareness-raising tools show how coal fuels climate change
Although the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil are deforestation and forest burning, emissions from burning coal present a growing threat. Brazil has significant coal reserves and it is likely these will be used for power generation, unless there are new public measures to prevent this.
foei works to keep africa gm free
In the African region, Friends of the Earth International’s campaign against genetically modified (GM) organisms has been built around biosafety policy issues. Here are some of the main campaign highlights in the region for 2007.
togo: strengthening partnerships between traditional and conventional medicine
Most of the world’s population relies on traditional plants for primary healthcare. In Togo, some steps have been taken to promote the practice of traditional medicine. Numerous studies by The World Health Organization and others reveal that the number of traditional practitioners by far exceeds that of conventional doctors.
radio mobilizing for a better world
In an era of globalised communications, Friends of the Earth International must adapt if it is to reach civil society groups and engage in movement building. During 2007, Real World Radio (RWR) aimed to reach out to more people and to have deeper coordination with communication strategies of different FoEI organizational structures.
real world radio tunes globe into climate justice at bali
Four years after its start-up, Real World Radio (RWR) went to Bali, Indonesia to broadcast the voices of social movements at the key December 2007 United Nations climate change negotiations.
nigeria & south africa: african “people power” exchange
Nigeria and South Africa are both resource-rich countries, especially when it comes to minerals, oil and gas. Yet when multinational corporations exploit this wealth, local communities are too often burdened with the major social and environmental costs.
honduras: hurricane mitch victims mobilise against climate change
The 1998 Hurricane Mitch was the western hemisphere’s most deadly hurricane in two centuries. It directly affected about half of Honduras’s six million people and left about two million homeless. Yet climate change is expected to bring more extreme weather to Honduras, which is already vulnerable to tropical storms, land slides, floods and droughts.
honduras: environmental awareness in communities in honduras
Despite a wealth of cultural and biological diversity, Honduras is locked in harsh socio-environmental conflicts over control of its natural resources. Severe environmental degradation is being exacerbated by a Neoliberal agenda, and poorer communities bear the brunt of this damage.
haiti: strengthening food sovereignty
The threats posed by genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not very well known in Haiti — or at least no one there speaks much about them. To raise awareness in all the relevant sectors, Friends of the Earth Haiti / Haiti Survie ran a project about GMOs and their impacts, and at the same time they began an action plan for food sovereignty.
el salvador: climate change - cutting emissions, adapting to impacts
El Salvador, like so many other impoverished countries, has not contributed much to the causes of climate change. Despite this, the most vulnerable sectors of the country’s population are already suffering the impacts of this major threat. Friends of the Earth El Salvador / CESTA has placed climate change high on its agenda, believing that measures should be taken at the local, national and global level to tackle climate change.
malaysia: helping farmers protect their rights from us free trade
The proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the USA and Malaysia poses many threats to Malaysian farmers, including liberalisation of sensitive crops such as rice, which would allow highly-subsidized US rice to out-compete and displace Malaysian farmers. The US has also attempted to use the FTA negotiations to water down Malaysia’s biosafety law; the possible introduction of patented seeds poses another threat to farmers.
paraguay: boosting capacity to confront socio-environmental conflict
In Paraguay, a lack of environmental regulation allows powerful economic actors to damage and destroy ecosystems. To help fill this gap, Friends of the Earth Paraguay / SOBREVIVENCIA created the “Consultorio Socioambiental” (Socio-Environmental Consultancy) in 1986. It aims to support communities as they struggle to deal with development imposed on their territories. It also provides legal advice for communities subjected to big infrastructure projects such as the Itaipú and Yacyretá dams, and the Hidrovía Paraguay Paraná mega-project, which aimed to build a 3,400 km navigation channel between Puerto Cáceres in Brazil, and Nueva Palmira in Uruguay.
nigeria: building up community forest management
The 20,000 agrarian people who live in the Iguobazuwa Forest Reserve area in Nigeria’s Edo state depend on this natural resource and its associated farmlands for their livelihood. However, in 2007 the multinational rubber company Michelin Nigeria acquired a vast expanse of this land from the state government for a rubber plantation. Obtained without their consent, this concession has deprived 80 per cent of these local people of their livelihood.
haiti: strengthening haitians’ capacity to deal with climate change
Small island states like Haiti are very vulnerable to climate change. According to Aldrin Calixte of Friends of the Earth Haiti / Haiti Survie, “Due to their limited resources, climate-change related catastrophes negatively affect those states' capacity to limit damages, prevent epidemics and rebuilt infrastructure, economies and communities in the long term."
colombia: working to regain control of water from corporations
In Colombia, the appropriation of water services by multinational corporations is one of the greatest sources of social and environmental conflicts. The problem centres on the use of water sources for bottled water production, as well as control of water and sanitation services in populated areas. In an attempt to reverse multinational control over these vital resources, some organizations are promoting a referendum to reform the country's constitution. The referendum includes a proposal to reform the current water management model, which has historically favoured transnational investment.
chile: foe chile takes stock, builds on 38 years of campaign strength
Chile’s oldest environmental organization, Friends of the Earth Chile / Comité Nacional Pro Defensa de la Fauna y Flora was born 38 years ago as a nature conservation organization, and today has five regional branches and nation-wide membership. However, new developments in the environmental NGO arena, including a multiplicity of diverse environmental problems, the emergence of other Chilean environmental NGOs (including international ones), and funding obstacles, mean FoE Chile faces critical new challenges and opportunities.
