Whenever deforestation is mentioned, most people will automatically think of the Amazon rainforest. In Argentina, however, the disappearance of its forests has also become a pressing problem. In the province of Salta, for example, the deforestation level is the highest. Between 1998 and 2006, the…
On December 6, the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the Mercosur Summit sealed the agreement on the final text of the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement. Both ENDS condemns this damaging agreement for undermining human rights, the environment, and democracy in Europe, and in Mercosur countries. Should the agreement be ratified as it stands, it will have devastating consequences for the environment…
The Hague/San Francisco, Dec 12, 2024 - The updated version of the Financial Exclusions Tracker is released today: financialexclusionstracker.org. The website tracks which companies are being excluded by institutional investors, pension funds and banks due to human rights, public health and sustainability issues. The most common reasons for exclusion are links to fossil fuels, weapons or tobacco. …
Over the past 15 years the production of palm oil has increased enormously, and not without reason: palm oil, pressed from the fruit of the oil palm, is cheap and is used in many different products. It is processed in ice cream, chocolate, margarine and sauces, but also in personal care products and cosmetics such as lipstick, detergent, toothpaste, soap and biofuel. Unfortunately, the large demand for palm oil has quite some negative side effects:…
Today, 800 million (almost 1 billion!) people around the world suffer from acute hunger. Add to that the almost two billion people who do not have access to even a minimum of healthy and nutritious food, and the way in which food production currently causes deforestation, erosion, pollution and climate change, and it’s clear why it’s time to do things differently! The Dutch government has set itself the goal of tackling this problem thoroughly and food security is one of the focus areas of the Netherlands’ development cooperation policy. Both ENDS shares that ambition, but feels that the…
The Rutu Foundation and Both ENDS will both organise a lecture about Opportunities for Forest Protection and Conservation of Native Culture in the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam.
Indigenous hunter-gatherer tribes like the Negrito in the Philippines, the Penan in Sarawak and the Ghonds in India have a wealth of knowledge of the rainforest, their natural habitat, and biodiversity. The history of the Negrito tribe goes back at least 40.000 years. However, due to the construction of dams, plantations and deforestation, their livelihoods and the survival of their culture and traditions are at stake. For this reason, there is the risk of…
By 2020, all EU countries must blend 10% of their transport fuels with renewable energy. In practice, these are mostly biofuels. Minister of State Joop Atsma is now trying to reach this percentage by 2016, even though a lot of studies show that biofuels made out of agricultural crops decrease food provision and cause deforestation. Four civil society organisations, including Both ENDS, are asking the Dutch Parliament to try and halt the Minister of…
In the course of centuries, traditions around the serving and drinking of tea have become a permanent feature of different cultures around the world. The production of tea however causes many problems: deforestation, soil and water pollution because of excessive use of pesticides, and tea pickers often working in bad working conditions with very low wages. On the 18th of July, a symposium called "Transforming Sri Lanka's Tea Sector To Meet…