Economics for Earth
Neoliberalism versus justice on Ecuador's mining frontier
In November each year BHP holds its Australian AGM. The world's biggest mining company recently has been using the opportunity to tell its hundreds of attendant shareholders how it is committing to a clean transition from being one of the biggest carbon emitters to one of the biggest providers of 'green' minerals for the renewable energy sector.
Economics for Earth
FOEA News & Events: Dec 2019
What a huge and amazing year it's been for Friends of the Earth Australia!
As we pass through our 45th year it has felt especially important to reflect on all the ways our network has expanded and evolved - we are thriving more than ever!
Economics for Earth
Statement of Support for the Union Movement
Profound structural change is already underway in Australia. The country is going through a poorly planned energy transition due to failures in government policy. Neither energy generators or the workers who rely on these sectors have the certainty they need. Inaction by the federal government has resulted in investment uncertainty and hence inconsistent growth in renewables, storage and efficiency.
This uncertainty, matched with the impacts of globalisation and climate change, and an industrial relations system that is not working for the benefit of the majority of working people has led to workers, particularly in regional Australia, exposed to changing industries and insecure jobs.
Economics for Earth
New report uncovers Australian banks financing palm oil companies responsible for deforestation and human rights violations
Friends of the Earth Australia media release. June 26, 2019
The Big four banks who were found to be exploiting Australians in the royal commission have been exposed in new research by Friends of the Earth to be financing even worse practices overseas. During the 2010–2018 period, the big four Australian banks had a total financial involvement (across loans, underwriting, bond holdings and shareholdings) of at least US$6.4 billion(AUD $9.5 Billion) in six major companies involved in the palm oil supply chain. Approximately $928 million (AUD$1.3billion) of this would be directly exposed to the palm oil business, given that these companies are involved in a number of business sectors of which palm oil is one.
Economics for Earth
WWF benefiting from histories of human rights abuse
By Lian Sinclair
Buzzfeed's recent exposé of WWF's practices around the world has shocked the public, funders and regulators.
Economics for Earth
Friends of the Earth Australia News
Published in Chain Reaction #135, April 2019. National magazine of Friends of the Earth Australia.
Economics for Earth
Calling out those who created a toxic environment for Muslims
By Susie Latham
Fraser Anning deserves widespread condemnation for his comments about the massacre of 50 Muslims in Christchurch mosques. But many mainstream voices now censuring him for his views, including Scott Morrison, who has stated that he will "always speak out" about "comments that seek to denigrate Muslims and Islam", created a political environment toxic to Muslims.
Economics for Earth
Major Plastic Waste Producers Must Get Consent Before Exporting their Toxic Trash to Global South
Geneva, Switzerland — Today, 187 countries took a major step forward in curbing the plastic waste crisis by adding plastic to the Basel Convention, a treaty that controls the movement of hazardous waste from one country to another. The amendments require exporters to obtain the consent of receiving countries before shipping most contaminated, mixed, or unrecyclable plastic waste, providing an important tool for countries in the Global South to stop the dumping of unwanted plastic waste into their country.
After China banned imports of most plastic waste in 2018, developing countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, have received a huge influx of contaminated and mixed plastic wastes that are difficult or even impossible to recycle. Norway’s proposed amendments to the Basel Convention provides countries the right to refuse unwanted or unmanageable plastic waste.
Economics for Earth
Change the system or face global ecological collapse says global biodiversity assessment
6 May 2019, Paris: The world faces ecological collapse and mass extinctions unless dramatic action is taken to change social and economic systems, according to a global assessment launched today by The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
The IPBES report is the most comprehensive scientific global assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services to be adopted by Governments. It exposes the main drivers of global biodiversity collapse and calls for urgent regulatory change.
The time has come to stop talking in terms of distinct crises, be it climate or biodiversity – and which is worse – rather we need tackle them all as one, with total system change, according to Friends of the Earth International’s assessment.
Economics for Earth
New research exposes a crisis in the global trade of "recyclable” plastics
Water contamination, crop death, illness, and the open burning of plastic waste have all flooded into Southeast Asia along with the world’s “recycled” plastics, according to a report by GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) with data analysis on the global waste trade from Greenpeace East Asia.