(by Kimberly Fraser) In June of this year Rio Tinto cut its ties with Bougainville by divesting itself of its majority shareholding in Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL). The company split its shares between the Papua New Guinea Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government, ensuring that both parties now have an equal share of 36.4 per …
Responsible consumption and production
(by Julie Edwards) Understanding the impact that our lifestyles have on the environment is key to bringing about behavioural change. Waste, pollution and excessive consumption are all hurting the earth and its inhabitants, not just through climate change, but also by fuelling violence, mass displacement of people, degradation of land and unsustainable water practices. One …
Mining and environmental justice: The struggle for water, health, and human security in Honduras
What is the impact of extractive industries such as mining in Honduras? And how are people in poor rural communities responding? With the support of the US Jesuit Conference and the Jesuit Central-Southern Province, Saint Louis University and ERIC, the Reflection, Research and Communication Center in Honduras, partnered to investigate the social and environmental risks …
Potential Human Rights Case for World’s Largest Carbon Emitters
In an unprecedented action, a government body has accused 47 of the world’s largest cement, oil, coal, and mining companies of releasing greenhouse gases that have violated the human rights of millions of people in the Philippines. The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR) has sent a 60-page document to the likes of …
Potential Human Rights Case for World’s Largest Carbon EmittersRead More
Peru Struggling to Save Precious Land from Illegal Gold Mining
While our focus is often on the environmental damage caused by corporate mining, significant harm also results from illegal artisanal mining. Unlike large-scale mining, which concentrates on areas with rich underground reserves, illegal miners move quickly across vast tracts of land. According to a New York Times article, illegal miners “cut down broad swaths of jungle, sifting …
Peru Struggling to Save Precious Land from Illegal Gold MiningRead More
Offshore Shell Companies Deprive Africa of Billions of Dollars in Natural Resource Revenue
New revelations from the Panama Papers indicate that offshore shell companies had been established to own, hold, or do business with oil, natural gas, and mining operations in 44 of Africa’s 54 countries. The shell companies provide anonymity, facilitating tax evasion and the unchecked movement of bribe money used to secure lucrative extractive industry contracts. …
Offshore Shell Companies Deprive Africa of Billions of Dollars in Natural Resource RevenueRead More