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Groups appeal to UN to halt imminent forced evictions of indigenous Ngöbe families

Appeal to the UN seeks to stop eviction of Panamanian community.

Mandela: lessons in tribal leadership to effectively protect the environment

“It always seems impossible until it becomes reality.” —Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela died one month ago. Much has been written about him since then, and he has been globally honored like none other. Despite possible year-end amnesia and at the risk of sounding cliché, I am writing this post in his honor. I’m particularly interested in highlighting four leadership qualities Mandela possessed, and pointing out how those same qualities can help us be more effective environment defenders. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Qunu, a Xhosa community in the state of Transkei, in the southeastern part of South Africa. Mandela’s birth name Rolihlahla means “troublemaker,” in the Xhosa language. But a schoolteacher began calling him Nelson, according to the custom of calling children by their English, rather than African, names. Another of Mandela’s names—Dalibunga (or founder of the bunga)—was given to him during a traditional initiation ceremony at the age of 16. He was also called Madiba, a name given by his tribe in honor of a Tembu chief who ruled during the 18th Century. According to tradition, Mandela was destined to be an advisor to the Tembu king. But he ended up being a leader far beyond the borders of the Transkei region, and changed the world even beyond South Africa. He was a leader of reconciliation and compromise. He had an enormous capacity for forgiveness and an ability work peacefully with, rather than seek revenge against, those who oppressed his people for centuries, and imprisoned him for 27 years. In what follows, I’d like to discuss four characteristics that Mandela exemplified. If we emulate these qualities, we can, like Mandela, help make the world a freer and more just place. 1. Values and a common cause as an absolute guide to decisions “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.” Mandela lived according to his values. He had the goal of ending apartheid and securing freedom for himself and his people. His desire for freedom guided each of his actions, including after he succeeded in ending apartheid in his country. Over the decades of his struggle, including more than a quarter century in prison, there were undoubtedly moments of despair and fear in which other people would have given up hope. Mandela and his colleagues, however, persisted. The cause that united them was greater than their individual will, and stronger than even Mandela himself. Although we cannot compare our work to the struggle against apartheid, we have indeed made important progress by rallying behind a common cause. One recent victory, in 2011, was a change in the Mexican Constitution in favor human rights. It would not have been possible without the joint work of our partner organizations, academia, and the Office of the High Commissioner of Mexico. 2. Conscientious, disciplined, committed and coherent “Running taught me valuable lessons. In cross-country competitions, training counted more than intrinsic ability, and I could compensate for a lack of natural aptitude with diligence and discipline. I applied this in everything I did.” Persistence and discipline were qualities that made a big difference for Mandela in reaching his goals. His commitment to every challenge, his clarity, and even his limitless stubbornness still manage to surprise us. His success was not achieved through supernatural powers, nor was there a single moment in which everything magically changed. On the contrary, Mandela’s achievements were a consequence of a life dedicated to study, work, and learning. He was constantly listening to others, building strategies, and rethinking them in order to achieve his goals. He made mistakes and bad decisions, but also had successes that collectively helped achieve his dream of freedom. Sometimes we feel that the results are impossible. In fact, they are, if we’re trying to reach them immediately. At AIDA, we have learned this in the case of La Oroya, in which we have had to be persistent and disciplined in order to achieve lasting results. With the people of La Oroya we have worked for change for 15 years, and we will continue until we achieve it. 3. All on the same side — there is no good vs. bad “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you should work with your enemy. Then he will become your partner.” I often wonder where South Africa would be if Mandela and his colleagues had not reached small agreements, if they had not overcome their many differences and moved forward. Moreover, what would have happened in that country if they had not been able to transcend hatred toward their oppressors in order to find peaceful and coordinated solutions? Surely, the outcome would have been a civil war with unimaginable consequences. One element that avoided such a catastrophe was Mandela’s constant ability to find solutions, reach agreements, maintain dialogue, and demand concrete results toward real change. No doubt, the process was not easy, quick, or smooth. But perseverance, clear goals, a desire to reach consensus, and the ability to find interlocutors made even the most complicated situations possible. When I think of our job of protecting the environment, I realize how much we lack and the great opportunity that lies before us. For example, instead of competing with colleagues at other organizations, or trying to defeat governments or corporations, we should remember that we are all working toward solutions to a common goal. The lure of “winning” and seeing others lose is powerful. But, surely, we will gain more if we work with our “enemies” and become partners instead. 4. A step back in celebration, a step forward in times of peril “It is better to lead from behind, and put others to the front, especially in celebration when good things occur. You step forward when there is danger. Then, people will appreciate your leadership.” Leadership is very different from being a dictator or a strongman. A person who is a true leader allows and encourages others to grow, develop and evolve in order to reach a common goal, even if they shine more than their bosses. Mandela was conscious of being a symbol so that everyone in South Africa could be free and treated as equals. Many times, he put that role above his own self-interest. On more than one occasion, Mandela had the possibility of improving his prison conditions or of obtaining early release. Instead, he chose to stay imprisoned because he believed that the conditions to dismantle apartheid were not met, and that the unjust system would not change if he were released. “Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice everything for the freedom of their people.” Sadly, contrary to what Mandela said, many “leaders” jump at the chance to receive medals, but have difficulty taking responsibility for the mistakes or shortcomings of their team. We must remember that the type of leadership that Mandela embodied can accomplish miracles. It translates into actions that allow changes no one would have thought possible—the fall of apartheid, for example, or a simple handshake between President Obama and Raul Castro, a symbol of reconciliation that took place at Mandela’s funeral. So, dear leaders, have a happy 2014! I invite you to consider these leadership skills and put them into practice. For your success, and for the survival of our planet!

Mexican government breaches international commitments to put Veracruz Reef System at risk

Organizations denounce the incident to the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the protection of wetlands. By modifying the boundaries of the coral reef national park, the federal government is seeking to expand the Port of Veracruz.

Victory: Ecuador’s High Court Orders Halt to Contamination from Palm Oil Production

Environmental Impact Assessments Necessary for Informed Consent

In January 2009, Muriel Mining Corporation moved into the department of Chocó, Colombia to launch Mandé Norte, a project for the exploration and development of copper, gold, molybdenum and other minerals. The US-based company began the project without proper consultation, and without the free, prior and informed consent of the local ethnic groups that would be directly affected by the mines. Consultation with the affected communities did not begin until 2006, a year after the company was awarded the mining contract. What's more, several of the affected communities were not invited to participate in the consultation process, and those that participated were not represented by traditional authorities. Then, despite serious objections raised by Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, the consultation process was concluded in August 2008. This project took place during a difficult period of Colombia’s armed conflict.The Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace, a Colombian human rights group, filed a legal action for protection against the mining project. AIDA contributed to the action by submitting an argument (in Spanish) demonstrating that without an adequate environmental impact assessment to analyze the project's social and environmental impacts, the affected communities would have no basis to give or deny consent, as required by international law. The Colombian Constitutional Court ruled on the case in the T-769 Sentence of 2009 (in Spanish), ordering the suspension of exploration and production activities and the awarding of licenses for the project. It also ordered a new consultation to meet both national and international standards, and required the completion of accurate environmental impact studies. AIDA has prepared a summary sheet (in Spanish) to make it easier to understand the sentence. The ruling in this case set a key precedent by incorporating and recognizing, for the first time, the right of ethnic groups to free, prior and informed consent. It was a breakthrough in the recognition of the rights of ethnic groups in Colombia. Both the Ministry of the Interior and the mining company sought an annulment of the constitutional sentence. But AIDA intervened (in Spanish) to defend the sentence against the annulment requests, as did the Colombian Commission of Jurists (in Spanish), Dejusticia (in Spanish), Harvard and Diego Portales (in Spanish). These efforts paid off. On March 12, 2012, the Constitutional Court upheld its decision (in Spanish) on Mandé Norte. Without this ruling, the mining project would have had serious social and environmental impacts on the biodiverse region of Chocó, damaging crop animals, rivers and the mountain of Caraperro, long considered by indigenous peoples to be a sacred site. The project would have both physically and culturally harmed the local indigenous peoples, and would have caused the deterioration of traditional economies. At AIDA, we work to defend the right to a healthy environment and the protect human rights of communities and ethnic groups against powerful interests. Follow us on Twitter: @AIDAorg "Like" our page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AIDAorg

Lives of no return: Stories behind the construction of Belo Monte

By María José Veramendi Villa, senior attorney, AIDA, @MaJoVeramendi  When you start the descent by plane to the city of Altamira in Pará, Brazil, the darkness of the night is interrupted by the bright lights of worksites a few kilometers outside the city where construction of the Belo Monte dam is underway. That’s when things turn bleak. On a recent trip to the area I was able to see how the situation of thousands of residents – the indigenous, riverine and city dwellers of Altamira - continues to deteriorate. Their communities and livelihoods are being irreversibly affected and their human rights systematically violated by the construction of the hydropower plant. When night becomes day From the plane, the lights from the worksites are just momentary flashes. But for the indigenous and riverine communities closest to them, those lights have brought a radical change to their lifestyles. José Alexandre lives with his family in Arroz Cru, a waterfront community located on the left bank of the Volta Grande, or Big Bend, of the Xingu River in the municipality of Vitória do Xingu. The community is in front of the Pimental worksite. His entire life has been spent in the area, where hunting and fishing are major activities. But everything changed when construction of the dam started.      

The link between international environmental law, human rights and large dams

The article is an update and reissue of two chapters of the report Large Dams in the Americas: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease, written by Jacob Kopas and Astrid Puentes Riaño. The article identifies “the main obligations, standards, decisions and international law applicable to large hydropower plants that our governments should use in the planning, implementation, operation and closure of these projects."   The article is divided into two parts. Chapter I offers an overview of the main standards, the legal framework of international human rights and environmental law as well as the decisions and international jurisprudence applicable to the cases of large dams. In Chapter II, this framework is applied to the cases of human rights abuses caused by the degradation of the environment through the development of a large dam.

Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: A great opportunity to put the brakes on climate change

By Florencia Ortuzar, legal advisor, AIDA While many of us are alarmed by climate change and its already tangible effects, concern becomes even greater when learning the fact that all the CO2  accumulated in the atmosphere cannot be removed, even if we were to shut down all the sources of emissions today. This reality was confirmed in the Fifth Assessment Report on the state of the climate, issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The explanation for this is simple: CO2, in contrast to other gases and pollutants, remains in the atmosphere for millennia after being released. It is stuck in the atmosphere for what is eternal for human standards, implying that its greenhouse effect does not end even with an immediate halt in emissions. The good news is that CO2 is not the only cause of global warming. There are other pollutants that, unlike CO2, only stay in the atmosphere for a relatively short time. These “other” agents are responsible for 40-45% of global warming, and they remain in the atmosphere for a minimum of a few hours to a maximum of a few decades. They are called short-lived climate pollutants, or SLCPs. Like CO2, SLCP emissions have a negative impact on humans and ecosystems. So a reduction in these pollutants would bring immediate relief to the worst affected by climate change and would bring important benefits to the environment and people. The main SLCPs  Although all SLCPs contribute significantly to climate change and share the trait of being short-lived, each has its unique characteristics and emission sources.  Black carbon or soot, is a particulate substance produced by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, mainly from motor vehicles, domestic stoves, fires and factories. The dark particles heat the atmosphere as they absorb light, and when the particles land on snow and ice they accelerate melting. Black carbon also affects human health by causing respiratory problems such as lung cancer and asthma.  Tropospheric ozone is a gas formed by the reaction of the sun with other gases called "precursors," which can be man made or naturally occurring. One of these precursors is methane, another SLCP. Tropospheric ozone is associated with diseases including bronchitis, emphysema, asthma and permanent scarring of the lung tissue. Studies also show that this gas has a direct impact on vegetation, reducing crop yields and the ability of plants to absorb CO2. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and 60% of its emissions come from human activities like rice farming, coal mining, landfill and oil combustion. Two important sources of methane include cattle farming, whose effect has dangerously increased with industrial meat production (Spanish), and large dams, especially those in tropical areas.  Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are man-made gases used in the production of air conditioners, refrigerators and aerosols. They have replaced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were banned under the Montreal Protocol. Although HFCs represent a small proportion of the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, their use is growing at an alarming speed of an average of 10-15% each year, according to a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.   Everyone wins According to the IPCC, the reduction of these pollutants could avert a rise in average global temperatures by approximately 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, cutting the current rate of global warming in half and helping to protect some of the areas most susceptible to climate change like the Arctic, the high Himalayan regions and Tibet. The mitigation of SLCPs is also crucial for decelerating glacial melting and rising sea levels, a serious situation for the world’s population that lives in coastal areas. The reduction of SLCPs would also bring important socio-environmental benefits. Black carbon and tropospheric ozone harm human health and reduce crop yields. This in turn affects ecosystems, food security, human welfare and the entire natural cycle that keeps the planet healthy. Some talking points Given that SLCPs stem from different sources, effective mitigation requires a series of comprehensive actions that deal with each pollutant separately. Fortunately, the road is already laid out. Many of the technologies, laws and institutions needed to cut SLCP emissions already exist. In the case of black carbon, new technologies are inexpensive and available. Developed countries have already reduced emissions significantly through the use of green technologies. Ideas include the modernization of domestic cooking systems in the region, introducing the use of solar cookers and new transport systems with improved exhaust filters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   The amount of methane in the atmosphere, which affects the level of tropospheric ozone, is largely dependent on industrial activities. To reduce emissions, effective regulations should be implemented to control the industries that emit the most methane, including intensive cattle farming, mining, hydrocarbons and large dams. For HFCs, an alternative already exists. There need to be regulations that encourage people to substitute HFCs for greener alternatives, no matter the commercial barriers. Some countries have proposed incorporating HFCs in the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement recognized as one of the most successful initiatives to significantly and rapidly reduce CFC emissions, addressing a similar challenge, to the one we face today. To find out more about SLCPs, you can read a briefing paper (Spanish) put together by AIDA, CEDHA, CEMDA and RedRacc.

Report from COP19: Warsaw, Poland

A terrifying nightmare came true before their eyes. Waves of up to seven meters (23 feet), propelled by winds that reached 315 kilometers per hour (196 miles per hour), caught the inhabitants of the Philippines off guard, devouring everything in their path. Typhoon Haiyan was the most devastating of the climate shocks that frequently hit the Asian country. “We can stop this madness.” With those words, Yeb Saño, the Philippine’s climate change commissioner, demanded “climate justice“ for his people during the inauguration of the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) on climate change in Warsaw, Poland. The tragedy was palpable in his eyes and voice. The effects of climate change are unmistakable. Ocean levels and temperatures are rising, and this is provoking storms surges of such intensity that they’re impossible to ignore. No more time can be wasted in coming up with the financing needed to fight this problem. And we must set the rules for the effective use of these funds. AIDA is pushing for this. At the COP19, we worked with other civil society organizations to encourage the governments of developing countries to draft an action plan next year designed to fulfill a vital commitment: making US$100 billion available to developing countries from 2020 for fighting climate change. Part of these funds will be channeled through the Green Climate Fund (GCF). AIDA has assisted in putting pressure on the governments of developed countries to provide certainty about the contributions they will make to this financing mechanism. We also have taken part in the creation of GCF by participating at meetings of its Board of Directors. Our short-term goal is to ensure that the role of civil society is effective and meaningful in the GCF decision-making process. Long term, we want the GCF to support effective actions for climate change mitigation and adaptation that will not only help reduce emissions but also benefit the most vulnerable communities that already are being affected by the phenomenon. Our presence at the COP19 also made it possible for AIDA to form alliances with groups from different sectors – civil society, youth, indigenous peoples, among others – in order to develop and strengthen a joint position ahead of the COP20 to be held in Peru. We hope that the COP20 will set the foundation for a new and hopefully successful climate agreement at the COP21 in Paris. We also worked with partner organizations to develop a briefing paper (in Spanish) on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), which we distributed in Warsaw. As SLCPs remain in the atmosphere less time than CO2, reducing these contaminants is a valuable opportunity for a short-term solution to global warming and an important element that should enter into the new climate agreement. With your support we will continue fighting to prevent typhoons and other natural disasters from becoming a way of life.