General News
Cementing conflict in Guatemala
On the night starting on the 19th of September 2014, at least 15 armed employees of the company Cementos Progreso fired on people from the El Pajoques community in San …
Business & human rights in Africa: lots of talk, but little action
Only 9% of companies active in Africa say they will change behavior after being confronted with environmental and human rights violations. That’s one conclusion from the report on business and …
Behind the veil of the Islamic State is a war for water
By Nick Meynen and Leah Temper. A little known fact of the war in Syria is that it started at the end of the worst drought in Syrian history, a biblical …
The growing debate on degrowth
By Nick Meynen. Why are a record 3000 thinkers gathering from 2 to 6 September in the German city Leipzig to discuss how we can get our economy to degrow? One …
Ecosystem services as if humans mattered
Power, labour and environmental justice conflicts in the ecosystem service provision. By Joachim Spangenberg. The concept of ecosystem services (ESS) has become almost mainstream in academic and political statements (although …
Playing with fire in Iceland
By Joan Martinez-Alier and Nick Meynen. When Norwegian farmers sailed to and colonized Iceland 1,100 years ago, they organized politically without kings for several centuries. They founded the oldest parliament in …
Power play at a Thermal Power Plant in Mirzapur
By Debadityo Sinha, Vindhya Bachao. Another 1320 MW thermal power plant is coming up in Mirzapur, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The Indian company Welspun’s investment of approx. …
Arrest of an environmental justice pioneer in Montenegro
By Nick Meynen. On Monday 18 August, at 9:30AM, Montenegro police arrested Naim Prelvukaj, coordinator of the Council for the Prevention of landfill in the village Martinaj. Despite using only peaceful …
Building an economy on quicksand
By Jakob Villioth. Sand has by now become the most widely consumed natural resource on the planet after fresh water. [1] The annual world consumption of sand is estimated to be …
Rosewood traffic and criminalization of journalists in Madagascar
The logging of rosewood is a very sensitive issue in Madagascar. According to Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a dozen private operators and three main companies are …
