Pension and endowment funds linked to conflict-plagued oil palm in DRC
- A new report from the Oakland Institute, a policy think tank, reveals that several well-known pension funds, trusts and endowments are invested in a group of oil palm plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo accused of environmental and human rights abuses.
- Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) was recently purchased by two African private equity investors, and several European development banks have invested millions of dollars in the company’s operations.
81 Indigenous leaders, environmental defenders slam BlackRock in open letter
- A letter signed by Indigenous leaders and environmental defenders from the Amazon, West Africa, Southeast Asia and elsewhere blasts BlackRock for failing to hold companies in its investment portfolio accountable for deforestation and land grabs.
- “While BlackRock makes pledges to ask portfolio companies to cut emissions in the future, our forests are being razed, our land is being stolen, and our people are being killed, today,” the letter said.
- Last week, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, published new guidelines related to “nat
State pursues land for Lokichar-Lamu oil pipeline
The process of land acquisition for the laying of the 824-km Lokichar-Lamu Oil Pipeline, also known as the Kenya Crude Oil Pipeline, is expected to be completed in December.
Petroleum and Mining CS John Munyes has said through the Lapsset and the National Land Commission, the government is engaging communities in six counties to give up their land.
“That is the condition. Until we get the land and then the private sector comes in and the government puts money to lay the pipeline. We will have to wait,” said the CS.
Rare win for Nepal indigenous groups as EIB admits 'gaps' in hydropower project
(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has pledged to address gaps in the implementation of a power project in Nepal, handing a rare victory to indigenous groups and local communities who had raised concerns about being uprooted from their land.
A complaint by Nepali civil society groups had pointed to inadequate analysis of environmental and social impacts of the Marsyangdi Corridor Transmission Line project, and a failure to consult with local communities and obtain their consent.
Land Formalization in Colombia: introducing the LAND-at-scale project
LAND-at-scale has started to work in Colombia on land formalization through a Fit for purpose approach in Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. The project is based on previous work by Kadaster International, who piloted the Fit for Purpose methodology successfully in Colombia.
LAND-at-scale Tender Announcement: Mali
Dordabis Residents On Warpath Over Land
DORDABIS residents have threatened war if the government fails to meet their demands listed in a petition they handed over last week, which land reform minister Calle Schlettwein said he had not received as of yesterday.
This is despite Windhoek rural constituency councillor Piet Adams confirming to The Namibian that he presented the petition to the minister's office.
Dordabis residents staged a demonstration last week over their landlessness and to demand an improvement in their living conditions.
MACRAD CHALLENGES CONSTITUTIONALITY OF SEC 10 (3) (D) OF COMMUNAL LAND ACT STATUTORY INSTRUMENT 50 OF 2021
Today 05 March 2021 Masvingo Centre for Research Advocacy and Development (MACRAD), Livison Chikutu represented by Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) filed two court applications concurrently at Masvingo magistrate court and Masvingo High Court on behalf of the Chilonga community. The application challenges the constitutionality of section 10 (3) (d) of the communal land act chapter 20:04 and the statutory instrument 50 of 2021 communal (setting aside of Land) (Chiredzi), notice 2021.
Enhancing Women's Land Tenure Security and Access to Agricultural Services : 7 Cases from India
Documented as part of the World Bank study Land Policy Reform for Agricultural Transformation in India by NRMC Centre for Land Governance, this series of case studies analyzes recent interventions by government and non-government organizations to secure land tenure rights for poor farmers—especially the landless, tenants and women, resulting in increased access to agricultural land, markets, finance, and services. These seven cases span formal and customary tenure regimes from six states of India, from Kerala in the South to Manipur in North East India.
Economic opportunism in response to COVID-19 erodes Indigenous land rights, generate violence and deforestation
In their quest to bolster economies battered by the pandemic, governments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere have set aside social and environmental safeguards in favor of destructive development projects that are harming Indigenous communities and the forests they care for, according to a report released today by Forest Peoples Programme.