“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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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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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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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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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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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 MorePor 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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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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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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Date: Thursday, September 12th Time: 11am Location: Asia Pacific Feminist Forum, Chiang Mai, Thailand Hydropower continues to be promoted as part of the energy transition, backed by vested interests across the region, including energy, construction and consultancy companies, bankrolled increasingly in the context of ‘climate finance’ schemes. However, damming our rivers creates sacrifice zones, causing…
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by Sherelee Odayar, Senior Programme Officer, Standing with Communities, Natural Justice The Process of developing the Biocultural Community Protocol of the OvaHerero of the Kaokoland in Namibia and Angola For centuries, Indigenous peoples have depended on the natural environment to sustain their livelihoods. Knowledge of plants and animals, as well as the performance of certain…
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