Indigenous Rights

Indigenous rights ignored

whit — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:07:58 +0000

ONE event on the sidelines of the climate talks in Poland dealt with the negative effects of the proposed forestry solution to climate change called Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).

Victor Hugo Vela told of the problems faced by the Chiquotano tribe in Bolivia with the controversial Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project.

Into its 11th year, the project is one of the earliest carbon sequestration scheme initiated by The Nature Conservancy with the government of Bolivia .

Nevada federal judge refuses to grant injunction to halt Cortez Hills gold project

Kailash — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:13:14 +0000

RENO, NV – Citing the “huge implications to the public at a time of severe economic difficulties,” a Reno federal court judge refused to issue a preliminary injunction to stop construction on Barrick’s one-million-ounce per year Cortez Hills gold project.

In his ruling from the bench Monday afternoon, Judge Larry Hicks said recent decisions by the U.S.

ADB energy policy proposal 'misled' govts, stakeholders

Kailash — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:06:42 +0000

MANILA, Philippines – The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) was criticized for “deliberately misleading” stakeholders and governments of its member-countries regarding its energy policy.

The bank’s energy policy draft — which governments and stakeholders had earlier commented on — “was later submitted to the ADB board for approval as a binding policy document that had already undergone public scrutiny,” NGO Forum on the ADB claimed in a statement.

As a result of this perceived irregularity, the process was a “sham of a review of the ADB’s energy policy,” said the

The Anchorage Declaration

Kailash — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:40:46 +0100

From 20-24 April, 2009, Indigenous representatives from the Arctic, North America, Asia, Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Caribbean and Russia met in Anchorage, Alaska for the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change. We thank the Ahtna and the Dena’ina Athabascan Peoples in whose lands we gathered.

We express our solidarity as Indigenous Peoples living in areas that are the most vulnerable to the impacts and root causes of climate change.

Indigenous Lands Plundered in Oil and Gas Rush

johnacuna — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:54:49 +0100

UNITED NATIONS – Leaders of the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples who are attending an international meeting here this week say they want governments to stop oil and gas corporations from further extraction on their lands.

“Much of the world’s untapped oil, gas and mineral wealth lies beneath indigenous lands,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpus, chairperson of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a 16-member body established by the U.N. Economic and Social Council in 2000.

Shell pays out $15.5m over Saro-Wiwa killing

johnacuna — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:39:30 +0100

The oil giant Shell has agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in settlement of a legal action in which it was accused of having collaborated in the execution of the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria.

The settlement, reached on the eve of the trial in a federal court in New York, was one of the largest payouts agreed by a multinational corporation charged with human rights violations.

The scale of the payment was being seen by experts in human rights law as a step towards international businesses being made accountable for their environmental

MOSOP Welcomes Shell’s Settlement of Claims of Ogoni Families

johnacuna — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:44:22 +0100

The Movement for the survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) welcomes the news of the agreement by Shell to compensate families of some of the victims of the company’s atrocities in Ogoni.

Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. was let down by the Netherlands

johnacuna — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:01:08 +0100

Shell and the relatives of the executed Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa reached a settlement on Monday, effectively ending a 13-year long legal battle. The case concerned environmental pollution by oil exploration, human rights abuses by the Nigerian military regime in the nineties, and the role of Shell. A jury before the New York District Court was supposed to consider the evidence collected by the parties.

Shell has agreed to settle the law suit by paying 15.5 million US dollars in compensation and legal costs to the families of Saro-Wiwa and of the 8 other executed Ogoni-leaders.

Climate Change - Further Threat to Aboriginals

johnacuna — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:04:35 +0100

SYDNEY – Climate change will further marginalise Australia’s Aboriginal communities, forcing them out of their traditional lands, destroying their culture and significantly affecting their access to water resources, indigenous rights advocates warn.

“As coastal and island communities confront rising sea levels, and inland areas become hotter and drier, indigenous people are at risk of further economic marginalisation, as well as potential dislocation from and exploitation of their traditional lands, waters and natural resources,” said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice C

Talisman prepares report on FPIC

johnacuna — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:04:52 +0100

http://www.batirente.qc.ca/en/all-news/10

Bâtirente and Regroupement pour la responsabilité sociale et l’équité (RRSE) announced today that they have reached an agreement with Talisman Energy Inc. on an important corporate responsibility initiative.