“We know there is no future for this capitalist food system. It has to die but it is not yet dead. In this process, food sovereignty activists act as collective midwives that are giving birth to a new system.”Read the full article
Bernard Duterme:“While the rebels of Chiapas may not have succeeded in reforming Mexico’s constitution, decolonising its institutions or even gaining a foothold in the country’s political scene, they have nonetheless given unprecedented local, national and international visibility to peasant and Indigenous [...]Read the full article
Tamara Gausi:To round up the year, each Equal Times editor picks the stories that have stayed in their heart and mind, long after publication.Read the full article
“All our field observations show that people’s livelihoods are profoundly affected for many years after they are evicted. So why continue along this path?”Read the full article
“The risk of depopulation is real. Although they feel a deep attachment to their douars, those who have the opportunity will not wait for the lengthy reconstruction process. Migration will primarily affect the younger generation, who will likely move to already overcrowded [...]Read the full article
Martin Léna:“The solutions we seek to provide to the climate crisis must not and cannot be disconnected from social justice and human rights. Those who are most vulnerable to climate change, and who are also the least responsible for it, are equally threatened by the false solutions put forward which claim [...]Read the full article
Residents of the Indonesian island of Pulau Pari have filed a lawsuit against the Swiss cement company Holcim demanding compensation for its role in climate change, which is causing sea levels to rise and threatening their livelihoods.Read the full article
Indigenous peoples are often among the workers most discriminated against and in the most precarious jobs, but they have an ally in the trade union movement to help defend their rights and improve their social and working conditions. Māori, Sami and Mapuche trade union leaders talk to Equal [...]Read the full article
How the Slow Food movement is helping local communities and smallholder farmers in Africa ensure food sovereignty and breakaway from neocolonial production systems.Read the full article
In Brazil, the ecosystem of the Maricá restinga, a nature reserve 60 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro, could be disrupted by plans to develop a luxury resort, the environmental impact of which has been denounced by several researchers.Read the full article
Across Canada, a thriving movement of Indigenous peoples reconnecting with their land and culture and stewarding their Nation’s traditional territories are heralding a new era for conservation.Read the full article
“A striking parallel between both stories of the new capital cities is how both projects only reinforce a colonial state, in spite of their promoters claiming the opposite. Both projects dominate and destroy the life spaces and territories of forest communities for economic and political [...]Read the full article
Kalpana Karki:“According to a study by the International Land Coalition, South Asia and Latin America exhibit the highest levels of agricultural land inequality, with the top 10 per cent of landowners capturing up to 75 per cent of agricultural land and the bottom 50 per cent owning less than 2 per [...]Read the full article
Rural farmers in Jharkhand, one of the most vulnerable states to climate change in India, are making the shift from conventional farming to innovative, organic farming practices – with positive results.Read the full article
Violence against farmers and restrictive land permits, combined with changing weather patterns, are negatively impacting harvest productivity and the lives of cultivators in Palestine.Read the full article
“Saudi Arabia is attempting to launder its global reputation with projects like Neom while deflecting attention away from what is actually happening on the ground.”Read the full article
In 1982, the United Nations declared 9 August the International Day of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous peoples everywhere, from Asia across to Africa and Latin America, are constantly battling to defend their cultures, their territories and, above all, their [...]Read the full article
A massive construction project in Barbuda threatens to harm a wetland site that is essential to the lives of locals, both as a means of subsistence and as a natural defence against coastal erosion.Read the full article
Indigenous communities and environmental organisations are staunchly opposed to the project, given the catastrophic environmental impact it will have on an area rich in biodiversity and crucial to the conservation of the Mayan [...]Read the full article
The threats linked to trade union work in Colombia are so constant that trade unionists have grown accustomed to them. Today, the country’s trade unions are struggling to survive the violence of the present whilst appealing to the transitional justice system to end the impunity surrounding the [...]Read the full article
The Mandalika project may be the precursor to broader human rights and labour concerns around Chinese investment in South-East Asia.Read the full article
The descendants of the victims of Namibia’s genocide have vowed to continue their quest for direct reparation, after disowning the settlement struck between their government and Germany.Read the full article
Fiore Longo :On 22 April, the world celebrated Earth Day and the importance of saving biodiversity. Unfortunately, the messages conveyed by many governments and international organisations put very little emphasis on one of the essential aspects of the fight to save the environment: human [...]Read the full article
“This is a very simple story - a story of ongoing colonialism in the 21st century, carried out, perpetuated and perpetrated by both the British and US governments.”Read the full article
Paramilitary groups in Mexico are using the pandemic as an excuse to increase attacks on Indigenous communities and rights activists.Read the full article
Guinea is trying to find a compromise between the need to improve access to electricity and the need to preserve the environment. For some years now, the country has been looking to hydropower as the solution to its energy needs and is developing the sector in partnership with Chinese [...]Read the full article
Almost four years after the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights recognised the Ogiek’s ancient title of the Mau Forest and ruled that they should be allowed to return there, the Kenyan government is yet to implement this [...]Read the full article
The construction of the Rasi Salai dam across the Mun River in the mid-1990s caused the flooding of 16,000 hectares of land and brought an abrupt end to a three-century-old way of life. Today, thousands of families are still fighting for compensation for the loss of their land, ecological [...]Read the full article
Ainu Indigenous leaders are aware that their ancestral knowledge is endangered: “We are being wiped out. In 30 years, we will all be Japanese”.Read the full article
The Indonesian government says the Omnibus Law will create more jobs, but labour and environmental activists warn that deregulation will lead to disaster for working people, environmental sustainability and democracy.Read the full article
Across the continent, there have been advancements in gender equality provisions in land access on paper, but now governments, civil society and local communities are being urged to come together to work on implementation.Read the full article
The fight to protect Katoku Beach in Amami Ōshima, Japan, provides a case study for environmental learning and community-led conservation, and could provide a sign of hope for future generations.Read the full article
Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, people everywhere have been spending a lot more time in their homes, thinking about how and where they want to live. In the Netherlands, this retrospection is having a positive impact on the burgeoning tiny house [...]Read the full article
The cork industry provides decent, green, skilled jobs for thousands of workers, setting a notable example as the world transitions to its low carbon future.Read the full article