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On 22 May European citizens will head to the polls to vote for the European Parliament. The outcome will have a major impact on the policies emanating from Brussels. These elections are not just about the choice for or against Europe, but about what kind of Europe we want. Trade and investment policy is an important part of the European project. Up till now however, this policy has not served people and planet. Curious which politicians will commit themselves to a fair and sustainable European trade and investment policy? Take a look at the list of candidates for the European Parliament who have signed the pledge of the Alternative Trade Mandate alliance.

All over the world countries conclude agreements with each other in order to receive access to foreign markets. The Member States of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)* want to establish a common market in 2015 to promote economic growth. Officially ASEAN has formulated the goal of making this growth as sustainable, fair and inclusive as possible. However, in many cases local communities that depend on natural resources such as forests will be the victims of this agreement.

Residents belonging to the indigenous Ngäbe-Bugle people living on the traditional indigenous territory surrounding the Barro Blanco dam in Panama, have filed a complaint against the Dutch development bank FMO. The bank has invested $ 25 million in the dam that is currently under construction in the river Tabasará. The Ngäbe-Bugle blame FMO for not adequately following its own social and environmental standards. FMO also violates international agreements relating to indigenous peoples. For Both ENDS, Anouk Franck is closely following FMO’s activities.

The prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the Green Nobel Prize, was awarded on Monday, April 28, to six activists from around the world who are committed to a better local environment. One of the winners was Suren Gazaryan, a Russian zoologist and activist. He received the prize for his campaign against illegal exploitation of protected forestland by the Russian government around Sochi. Gazarya works for EWNC, an organization that is supported by our partner organisation Bankwatch.

A while ago our director Daniëlle Hirsch, along with Dutch Minister of Internal Affairs Lodewijk Asscher, chair of the board of The Broker Monika Sie Dhian Ho and director of The Broker Frans Bieckmann, formed the panel on ‘The Broker Day 2014’. Like the other panel members, she gave a speech in which she outlined her views on employment, inequality, the underlying macroeconomic problems and possible solutions. As we consider this speech worth reading, we’re happy to share it on our website.

During the election debate between ten candidate MEPs (Members of European Parliament) yesterday evening in the Brakke Grond in Amsterdam, several issues are highlighted. Candidates explain how their parties think about the use of biofuels, mandatory production criteria for clothing sold in the EU and on the approach to tax avoidance. All participants acknowledge that there are problems related to these issues, but they differ on their preferred solutions to these problems. Tempers start to run high when the free trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU (TTIP) is discussed.

The construction of a dam causing floods and displacing the local population; small farmers unable to compete with large-scale farms;  workers forced to work under harsh conditions and for low wages. These are all examples of the impact activities by companies, governments and policy makers can have in the areas where the activities take place. How can companies, investors and governments be persuaded to change their policies? Based on 10 success factors, the Fair, Green & Global Alliance shares its experience in the booklet ‘The power of advocacy and influencing’.

The Netherlands and Europe are investing far too much in gas pipelines and storage facilities. The number of gas pipelines is already enough to meet the demand for gas. The planning and construction of pipelines (financed with European funds) that have to transport gas from Russia, Central Asia and North Africa to Europe and the Netherlands is getting out of hand. The current capacity for transport and storage in both the Netherlands and Europe is enough to meet European demand until 2050. Therefore, the 'gas hub' that was built for liquefied gas in Rotterdam is unnecessary. This is one of the conclusions of the report "The Price of Gas" that was commissioned by Both ENDS.

The U.S. is not always in the front line when it comes to the protection of human rights and the environment in developing countries, but there are exceptions. The Netherlands has recently joined the ‘climate initiative’ of President Obama, which aims at ending the public funding of coal plants. But the U.S. is going even further than that: under the ‘Appropriations Bill’, U.S. directors at international financial institutions have to vote against projects that support large dams and industrial logging or mining projects in tropical forests. We are calling on Dutch Minister Ploumen to follow the U.S. example!

The Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development regrets the fact that part of the Ngäbe-Buglé tribe is unhappy with the construction of the Barro Blanco dam in the river Tabasara in Panama. Ploumen said this in reply to parliamentary questions filed by Jasper van Dijk (SP). The Netherlands is involved in the construction of this controversial dam because of the loan provided by the Dutch development bank FMO. The minister does not have the intention of forcing the FMO to withdraw the loan, even though the basic human right of "free, prior and informed consent’ has been violated. A part of the Ngäbe tribe has not been informed before the plans were carried out. Anouk Franck of Both ENDS looks at the impact of the FMO loans.

In March the Indonesian government announced that it will terminate the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with the Netherlands as of July 1st, 2015 (for more information, see the press release of 24 March at the bottom of this post). Several organizations, including Both ENDS, have been raising questions about these controversial international trade agreements for a long time and think they should be drastically revised or even terminated. The Socialist Party and GreenLeft have asked parliamentary questions about the effects of these treaties following Indonesia’s decision. Both ENDS is curious about the answers to these parliamentary questions and about the consequences they will have for Dutch policy in this area.

With an estimated  length of 4350 kilometers, the Mekong River is the seventh longest river in Asia. The Mekong basin also boasts the second highest level of biodiversity of any river system in the world, behind the Amazon. The richness of plants and animals in the basin has not even been fully discovered and described yet. The question, however, is whether this wealth can be sustained. The management of the river is in the hands of the Mekong River Commission (MRC). This commission includes representatives from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Netherlands supports the MRC and Dutch consultants are doing work commissioned by the MRC.