By Rin Sohsai In early October, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) sent a letter to Thailand’s Prime Minister expressing serious concerns about the plans for four more hydropower projects to be built on the mainstream of the Mekong River near the Thai-Lao territorial border— namely, the Sanakham, Pak Chom, Ban Kum and…
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Rising Tides of Hope: Advancing River Protection at COP16 CBD
By Monti Aguirre, Director, Latin America Program Returning to Colombia, my birthplace, for the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Cali was both deeply nostalgic and profoundly meaningful. The city’s warm weather and intermittent showers over the past few weeks mirrored the vibrant yet urgent tone of the conference. With its unparalleled biodiversity and mounting pressures on…
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Why Saving Rivers Means Saving Democracy
“It is an easy answer, but it is hard to digest.” This is how The New York Times opinion page put it this morning. The state of democracy affects everything downstream – including, quite literally, our rivers. At International Rivers, where we work with communities living alongside rivers in the Global South, we see this…
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Peruvian Court Upholds Ruling Recognizing Rights of the Marañón River
The Civil Court of Loreto issued a ruling this week that upholds the rights of the Marañón River, marking a significant victory for environmental justice and Indigenous rights in Peru. Originating in the Andes and flowing into the Amazon, the Marañón is critical to biodiversity and Indigenous communities, particularly the Kukama people who have long…
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The World Bank is poised to repeat the mistakes of the past in its embrace of megadams
By Joshua Klemm, Co-Executive Director As world leaders gather this week in Washington, DC for the World Bank’s Annual Meetings, over 100 civil society organizations are raising the alarm over the World Bank’s plans to lend billions of dollars for ill-conceived and destructive megadams around the world. A letter sent to the World Bank today…
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International Rivers celebrates the unprecedented victory in removing dams on the Klamath River
This week marked the removal of the last remnants of four large hydropower dams on the lower Klamath River. On the occasion of the community celebration taking place on October 5 in Yreka, California, International Rivers extends its heartfelt congratulations to the many groups that worked together to make this happen. The decades-long struggle to…
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A Victory After 15 Years: Land Restitution for Families Displaced by the El Quimbo Dam
By Monti Aguirre, Director, Latin America Program In a long overdue victory, Colombian President Gustavo Petro last week handed over nearly 1000 hectares of land to close to 100 families displaced by the construction of El Quimbo dam. Built on the Magdalena River—Colombia’s most important waterway, vital for the country’s ecosystem, culture, and economy—the dam effectively…
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Recognizing the Rights of the Biobío River: A New Era of Environmental Stewardship
By Monti Aguirre, Director, Latin America Program For the Spanish version, click here. The Biobío River was Chile’s first major river protection campaign, which later helped shape and inform efforts to protect iconic rivers in Patagonia. The lessons learned from the Biobío campaign laid the groundwork for future advocacy, driving the successful movements to safeguard rivers…
Read MoreReconociendo los Derechos del Río Biobío: Una Nueva Era para la Protección Ambiental
Por Monti Aguirre, Directora, Programa América Latina For English version, click here El Río Biobío fue la primera gran campaña de protección de ríos en Chile, y marcó un precedente que luego inspiraría e informaría los esfuerzos para proteger ríos icónicos en la Patagonia. Las lecciones aprendidas en la campaña por el Biobío sentaron las bases…
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PRESS RELEASE: Breaking News: The Biobío River becomes the first ecosystem in Chile to have a Declaration of Rights
Photos here (credit: Defensa Ambiental) Download the press release here: English Version For Immediate Release September 25, 2024 MEDIA CONTACTS: Isadora Armani, Communications of International Rivers,iarmani@internationalrivers.org (English, Portuguese) Dario Cuellar, Communications of Defensa Ambiental, dario@ongdefensaambiental.cl (Spanish) CONCEPCIÓN, CHILE – The Biobío River is now the first ecosystem to have a Declaration of Rights in Chile. …
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PRESS RELEASE | Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition Statement on Release of Hoang Thi Minh Hong
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 MEDIA CONTACT: v4climateleaders@gmail.com The Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition, a group of over 30 international and regional environmental, climate justice, and human rights organizations, celebrates the early release from prison of climate advocate and environmental defender Hoang Thi Minh Hong. Hong was released in the early hours of 21 September…
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