Global Witness

The Cambodian government has just escalated its war on environmental defenders by imposing prison sentences on 10 Mother Nature activists. This follows a long-established pattern of threats, attacks and murders targeting Cambodians who try to protect their nation’s rich natural heritage. When Global Witness had an office in hashtag #Cambodia (where our CEO Mike Davis worked from 2002-2005) our team members were frequently threatened and on a number of occasions physically assaulted and even shot at. Government officials launched lawsuits against our country director. We had to close our office in 2005 because of security risks. In recent years, much of this kind of intimidation has rained on young activists from the NGO Mother Nature. They have been highly effective in resisting a hydroelectric dam project that threatened to destroy ecosystems and livelihoods in Areng Valley and stopping the corrupt plunder of sands from Koh Kong Province. Why is the government so scared of them? Veteran despot Hun Sen, who recently handed over the prime minister role to his son Hun Manet, learned during the last chapters of Cambodia’s civil war that looting the country’s forests was a short cut to ample untraceable cash that could sustain his powerbase: https://lnkd.in/ewCB7egt. Thereon, his regime turned the opportunistic asset-stripping into a system. First steal the trees, next steal the land and then steal anything valuable – such as mineral deposits – that can be gouged from beneath the surface. That then provides the funds to rig elections, buy off adversaries and build up a private army (a “bodyguard corps”) that is far better equipped than the military and sits outside of the official chain of command. When laying waste to the environment – even committing hashtag #ecocide – is a significant foundation for your power, those that stand in your way are are at least as threatening as rival politicians. When the environmentalists are young and less susceptible to the Hun regime’s threats to drag the country back to the horrors of the 1970s if anyone challenges them, they are even more dangerous. International indifference to the rights and aspirations of Cambodia’s people helps explain many of the atrocious experiences they have been through in the past six decades. And the reality is it would not take much pressure to compel Cambodia’s bullying government to back off and release the Mother Nature activists – Ly Chandaravuth, Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phuon Keoraksmey – now in prison. The governments of China, the EU, U.S. and UK need to step up. Cambodia’s Family Trees - Illegal logging and the stripping of public assets by Cambodia’s elite: https://lnkd.in/exj3nHvA; Country for Sale - How Cambodia’s elite has captured the country’s extractive industries: https://lnkd.in/egSbCaHq;

The UK has a new government...now what?   The labour party have been elected at a crucial time to tackle the climate crisis. We have 3 main asks of the new government.

The world’s largest survey on public attitudes to climate change is out and it makes me sad but hopeful - people everywhere are worried, care, and want to see real action to mitigate the crisis we’re in.   UNDP's survey represents *87% of the world’s population* (!) and shows that the climate crisis is on people’s minds everywhere. Globally, 56% said they were thinking about it daily or weekly.    As we head towards COP CBD 16 in October we need to take hope from the fact that 81% of those surveyed support the protection and restoration of nature, showing how much importance people everywhere place in biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. Equally, we need to remind leaders that 79% express support for climate justice.   At COP CBD Global Witness will be calling for global action to prevent financial institutions from bankrolling deforestation, biodiversity loss, and human rights violations. With parnters from affected communities we'll be demanding that decision-makers centre the defenders and Indigenous Peoples who are the guardians of nature and our best hope for the stewardship and protection of land and forests.   We’ll be making our case knowing that the public agree – and that counts for a lot. https://lnkd.in/e6PFn7Zd

Join us and an exciting line-up of speakers to explore what stops mineral-rich countries from developing local processing industries, moving up the value chain, and benefiting more. The rush for minerals needed for the #energytransition is often described as an opportunity for resource-rich countries to transform and diversify their economies. But countries often face multiple barriers to realising the full economic and development value of their natural resources. Register now to hear more from: Speakers: ◾ Pavel Bilek ◾ Deputy Head of Energy and Climate Policy at Berlin Economics ◾ Bart-Jaap Verbeek ◾ Senior Researcher, Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) ◾ Nozuko Mani ◾ Executive Director, Mintek ◾ Tatenda Mungofa ◾ Founder of Mureza Auto Co ◾ Claude Kabemba ◾ Executive Director of Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) https://lnkd.in/ep9g83F3

💡 Between 2019 and 2021, the #EU was exposed to 190,500 hectares of #deforestation on average every year from direct imports of forest-risk commodities, such as cocoa, oil palm, coffee or cattle, according to a recent Trase - Intelligence for sustainable trade analysis commissioned by Fern NGO.    This means an area more than *ten* times the size of Brussels 😲!   As a new political cycle is about to start in the #EU, it is paramount that the #EUDR gets implemented and effectively enforced - and that other major consuming countries follow suit in the fight against global deforestation!    There's no time left to roll back on obligations for companies that are destroying our world's forests 🌳 - as repeatedly shown by our investigations https://lnkd.in/dpPvXSNY

“You cannot begin to solve existential problems like climate change if you don’t have facts, if we are not in a shared reality,” said journalist and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa at UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day last month. Senior campaigner Henry Peck, from our digital threats to democracy campaign, spoke on a panel alongside digital rights organisations Access Now and IPANDETECto share our work into the online dangers threatening freedom of expression in Latin America and their relationship to environmental and climate communication globally. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ePXAYk-B #WorldPressFreedomDay

Climate disinformation is slipping through the gaps in tech companies' content moderation policies, helping to fan the flames of climate denial. We’ve set up a Climate Disinformation Unit to pilot investigations into how disinformation is used by powerful actors to undermine climate action, and how tech companies enable this. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/esKw5WJZ

Our CEO Mike Davis joined Gareth Mitchell and Peter Guest on the Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast to discuss the findings of our report revealing the surge in rare earth mining in #Myanmar and the devastating impact on local communities and the environment. Myanmar is now the single largest source of heavy rare earth elements globally. Heavy rare earths are currently in demand as part of the global energy transition – they are vital ingredients for permanent magnets that are used in #electricvehicles and #windturbines. Many consumers could be unknowingly buying or using electric vehicles that contain heavy rare earths extracted from often unregulated mines in Myanmar, with a potentially devastating environmental and social footprint. #environment #sustainability #cleantech

Our latest investigation found UAE oil company, ADNOC, sought deals worth almost $100B in the year its CEO was president of COP28. That’s five times more than in the previous year. We wanted to send them a message at the UN climate meeting in Bonn last week... https://lnkd.in/eXwSMjKw

Can you deliver high quality, innovative investigations which expose the inequities in extracting minerals for the global energy transition? Become a Global Witness investigator on our Transition Minerals campaign ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/erfnUrZ8