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On Wednesday November 5^th, Dutch State Secretary for Infrastructure and Environment, Mansveld, and Minister for Agriculture, Dijksma, issued a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives. This letter was their reaction to the ‘Advice Sustainability Food Sector’, which was drafted at the request of the Cabinet by the Commission Sustainability Issues Biomass – or Commission Corbey in short. Paul Wolvekamp of Both ENDS is member of this commission and gave his opinion on the letter.

Finally, some good news from Suape, Brazil! The Fórum Suape, an association of affected local people, has gained support from the official Bar Association in Pernambuco. The human rights commission of the Bar Association has decided that there is enough reason to file a complaint against the Suape Port Authority. On November 10, the first public hearing will be held to give impetus to the case.

The Netherlands does not reach target for responsible soy

The Dutch Soy Coalition (consisting of eight development and environmental organisations*) finds that in 2013 only a quarter of the 2.4 million tons of soy used in the Netherlands is responsibly produced. The social or environmental impacts of the production of the other three quarters of Dutch soy imports are not at all clear or accounted for. The target set by the Netherlands is to purchase 100 percent responsible soy by 2015.  This will be almost impossible to achieve at this point.

The port of Suape in Brazil is currently being expanded and dredged, with damaging implications for the local population and environment. The Dutch dredging company Van Oord executes a large proportion of the dredging-work, supported by export credit insurance from the Dutch export credit insurance agency Atradius DSB. Correspondent Katy Sherriff has made several reports in the area, which will be aired on Dutch radio in ‘Reporter’ on Sunday. Her story will be accompanied by live commentary from the studio, from Dutch political party PvdA-member Jan Vos and Both ENDS’ own Wiert Wiertsema.

Many of our food products contain palm oil and soy in one form or another. To meet the growing demand, they are being cultivated on an increasingly large scale. This has unfortunately been the cause of many problems. Deforestation, environmental pollution and ‘land-grabbing’ are rampant in South-East Asia and South America. Of course, these paractices should stop. But what are the most sustainable, ethical, and – above all – feasible ways to achieve this? And how do you get all parties to cooperate? To explore the answers to these questions, the Ecosystem Alliance (Both ENDS, IUCN NL and Wetlands International) is organising a conference on October 30.

This video tells the story of the families that were forced out of there homes and evicted from their lands in the Suápe region in Brazil. The local authorities have decided to expand the shipyard and the sea-harbour, but they have failed to take into account the negative impacts on the local people and their environment. Dutch company Van Oord is executing part of the dredging, supported by export credit agency Atradius DSB. 

This video tells the story of the families that were forced out of there homes and evicted from their lands in the Suápe region in Brazil. The local authorities have decided to expand the shipyard and the sea-harbour, but they have failed to take into account the negative impacts on the local people and their environment. Dutch company Van Oord is executing part of the dredging, supported by export credit agency Atradius DSB. 

Large-scale plans made by governments or companies can often have profound effects on small communities and their environment. Countless people have to move if a dam is built, forests are cleared for new highways, airports or palm oil plantations. Promised compensation is often incomplete or not given at all. For local communities, objecting to such plans is not easy. Nevertheless a community in Uganda has managed to receive fair compensation from the government. Together with the organisations NAPE and AFIEGO, partners of Both ENDS and IUCN NL, the community has persuaded the government to buy new land for those who are forced to move.