Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information or to customize your cookie preferences.

Search results

GoGreenNation News: Indigenous land rights crucial for climate success
GoGreenNation News: Indigenous land rights crucial for climate success

Giving Indigenous communities greater control over their lands significantly improves conservation results, according to a new study in One Earth. Anita Hofschneider reports for Grist. In short:Researchers analyzed 648 studies of conservation areas, comparing the ecological and social outcomes based on the degree of Indigenous involvement.The study found that recognizing Indigenous autonomy leads to significantly better environmental and social results than merely treating them as stakeholders.Examples include successful conservation in Chile’s Los Lagos Indigenous Marine Areas and ineffective efforts in China’s Hainan province due to lack of Indigenous involvement. Key quote: “The findings reveal that more equitable governance, based on equal partnership or primary control for [Indigenous peoples and local communities], are associated with significantly more positive ecological outcomes.” — Study authors Why this matters: Indigenous communities have long been the stewards of vast tracts of land, preserving biodiversity and maintaining ecological balance through traditional knowledge and sustainable practices. Studies indicate that these lands support healthier ecosystems and store more carbon, an important factor in mitigating climate change. However, these benefits are jeopardized when Indigenous land rights are overlooked or violated. Related EHN coverage: Opinion: Protecting Indigenous children means protecting water Colonialism, the climate crisis, and the need to center Indigenous voices Hands on the land, heart in community: Returning cultural fires

Cinema Verde Presents: Mentawai - Souls of the Forest
Cinema Verde Presents: Mentawai - Souls of the Forest

Past Presentation | The last indigenous people of Mentawai, a small archipelago south-west of Sumatra, are fighting with creative resistance to preserve their ancient culture and rainforest. A culture on the verge of extinction - with the latest geopolitical developments, the destruction of their habitat reaches the point of no return. Smashing the hopes of thirty years of democratization in Indonesia, Jakarta in relapse to authoritarian rule is enforcing deforestation in Mentawai. In collaboration with investigative journalist Febrianti and indigenous foundations, our film portrays indigenous culture, history and resistance up to the most recent developments in geopolitical of Indonesia's growing environmental degradation. Connect with all your heart and senses: see, feel, touch, smell life in the jungle. The cinematic and compassionate camera conveys an intimate and sensual experience of the indigenous life on Mentawai with its beauty and vulnerability. Three shamans are the main characters in the film, hunter-gatherers in a culture predating even traditions of weaving or pottery, archaic traditions with their own complexity. The film portrays daily life of the indigenous tribe, their spiritual cosmos and their commitment to preserving their own culture and natural habitat. Logging companies threaten the fragile eco-system of the islands. Rare historic footage and archive materials tell the story of decades of oppression of the indigenous culture – but also of the resilience of our main characters and the last tribes living in the jungle. The main character, Father Laulau had been a leader in this struggle for decades, meeting the governor on Sumatra in a key point of history. The latter part of the film explores the geopolitical context and shows a new generation joining our main characters in the fight for the preservation of both their environment and culture – as part of a larger movement in Indonesia. The project started by indigenous initiative: Martison Siritoitet from Indigenous foundation Suku Mentawai (http:/sukumentawai.org) invited director Joo Peter to Mentawai and a long-term collaboration started including also Mentawai Indigenous Education Program (http://IEFprograms.org) The film is one of a planned series of films celebrating the diversity and richness of the Indonesian indigenous culture.

GoGreenNation News: The fossil fuel industry is disproportionately harming low-income and minority women: Report
GoGreenNation News: The fossil fuel industry is disproportionately harming low-income and minority women: Report

HOUSTON — Black, Latine and Indigenous women are disproportionately suffering from the fossil fuel industry in North America, according to a new report.The report, published by Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), analyzed existing research about fossil fuel extraction and related facilities to explore the unequal impacts on women of color in North America. WECAN identified nine regions that appeared most frequently, including the Gulf Coast, to focus additional research. From this, the group highlighted six issues that appeared most often in research associated with the fossil fuel industry: environmental racism, increased caretaking responsibilities, pollution, fertility and reproduction impacts, “man camps” and mental health effects. Impacts were either related to race, income status, gender identity or a combination of these three.“This is an egregious list, and these [fossil fuel] activities must be stopped,” Osprey Orielle Lake, report author and executive director of WECAN, told EHN.The report highlights an “indisputable connection” between the fossil fuel industry’s practices and negative impacts to Black, Indigenous, Latine, and low-income women’s health, safety and human rights. The report points to fossil fuel pollution links to infertility and pregnancy complications, as well as rising temperatures’ links to preterm births, stillbirths, gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders and endocrine dysfunction.For example, in the Eagle Ford Shale region of Texas, flaring was more likely to occur near Latine residents and women living within three miles of theEagle Ford shale basin had a 50% higher chance for preterm births than those living farther away, according to a 2020 study. Pennsylvania women living near active fracking sites had 40% and 30% increased risk of experiencing preterm births and high-risk pregnancies, respectively, according to a 2016 study. The authors also highlighted that air and water pollution, and climate impacts such as extreme heat, often add responsibility for women who are often taking care of children and homes. Women will “continue to be disproportionately responsible for reproductive labor,” for unpaid household tasks like dishes, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of elderly family members and children.“When water and air become polluted, making elders and children at home sick, and safe food and water supplies hard to obtain, it imposes significant stress and strain on women’s daily lives,” the authors wrote. “For example, mothers are 10 times more likely than fathers to take time off of work to care for sick children, placing women at greater risk of lost wages or being let go.” Fossil fuel production can also bring about transient work camps, or “man camps” — defined as the temporary residence areas for oil and gas project workers, predominantly young men — which have been linked to increased rates sexual assault and violence against women. “Extensive research points to the hyper-masculine nature of man camps, which leads to social isolation, lack of self-care, and significant alcohol and drug use, as well as an increase in demand for sex trafficking,” the authors wrote.Similar to Canada, in the U.S. only 2% of land is designated for Indigenous reservations, but those reservations hold about 20% of the country’s fossil fuel reserves, placing Indigenous women at an increased risk from man camps, amidst an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.This combination of pollution and physical health effects, increased unpaid caretaking, and the potential for violence leave women more susceptible to mental health effects from fossil fuel production, the authors write, citing numerous studies from Colorado to Pennsylvania that linked oil and gas extraction to depression, anxiety and chronic stress. These impacts are expected to grow as the fossil fuel industry expands. The International Energy Forum anticipates that liquified natural gas trade, for example, will increase 25% by 2028. Petrochemical facilities looking to meet the growing demand for plastics, which is expected to triple by 2060, are also expected to expand.The report notes the Gulf Coast is leading in the nation for liquified natural gas production and expansion. At least six facilities were proposed in Texas this year, with half moving forward in construction. Additionally, the Gulf Coast’s petrochemical and oil refinery presence is the largest in the nation. In 2020, of the top 10 refineries that have cancer-causing benzene levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action levels, six were along Texas’ Gulf Coast and are located within predominantly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) communities. Since then, the number of refineries above the EPA action level have decreased to six, but the Houston-area Pemex (formally Shell) Deer Park Refinery is exceeding the standard more than any of the other remaining refineries and its annual emissions increased to 17.3 micrograms per cubic meter in 2023 — nearly double the EPA’s action level. Authors of the report note that the percentage of the population that is Latine in Deer Park is nearly double the national average, at 36.8%. At the same time, climate change is expected to accelerate through the fossil fuel industry’s climate-warming emissions, and roughly 80% of climate refugees are women. This displacement could contribute to further issues finding work, leading to higher risks of physical and sexual violence.“There is an urgent need to address these crises because the lives of women and their communities are at stake,” Orielle Lake told EHN. “The report calls for a just transition that addresses the needs of communities most impacted and vulnerable to the climate crisis and continued reliance on fossil fuels.” In addition, the group put out a series of recommendations for banking institutions that finance or in some way monetarily fossil fuel companies, including: divesting, adhering to human rights recommendations from the United Nations and adhering to commitments from the Paris Climate Agreement.“Women, in all of their diversity, must be at the center of climate and energy decision-making,” Orielle Lake said.

Join us to forge
a sustainable future

Our team is always growing.
Become a partner, volunteer, sponsor, or intern today.
Let us know how you would like to get involved!

CONTACT US