The ‘green’ economy sells the idea that it is possible to confront climate chaos without looking at the direct link between power structures and pollution. Its ‘green’ programs allow energy demand to continue to grow, and thereby the accumulation of profits and injustices as well. In this way, it is actually a ‘green’ facade for the same violent, patriarchal, colonial and racist system.
Bulletin 266 - July 2023
When 'Green' only means Money: Violence and Lies of the 'Green' Economy
The articles in this Bulletin are written by the following organizations and individuals:
The National Platform of Actors for Climate Justice in Senegal; feminist Indonesian organization Solidaritas Perempuan; the organizations Women of the Chiapas Coast Against Oil Palm and Coastal Women in Rebellion from Chiapas, Mexico; the group Guardians of the Y’vera, from Corrientes, Argentina; and the WRM International Secretariat.
WRM Bulletin
266
July 2023
OUR VIEWPOINT
WHEN 'GREEN' ONLY MEANS MONEY: VIOLENCE AND LIES OF THE 'GREEN' ECONOMY
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22 July 2023In the ‘green economy,’ the interests of corporations, governments and the conservation industry intersect. All of these entities, in one way or another, profit from the destruction of forests and the dispossession of communities. In Pará, there are not only increasing REDD projects, but the state governor is seeking to implement jurisdictional REDD throughout the territory.
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22 July 2023This article tells the story of a women group in Kalimantan called “Hurung Hapakat”, which means “Working Together”. Collectively, and against serious repression, they have reclaimed some land from oil palm plantations in order to also reclaim their food sovereignty, dignity and wisdom. And they are not alone.
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22 July 2023Women's organizations are resisting the advance of a monoculture crop that is invading their lands and bringing scarcity and water pollution. In this podcast, they explain their situation and their struggle. The podcast was produced by the groups Women of the Chiapas Coast against Oil Palm and Coastal Women in Rebellion, in collaboration with WRM.
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22 July 2023Climate chaos is tangible in the Saloum Delta. Fishing-dependent communities face substantial impacts, which are accentuated by the fishing industry and the fossil fuel industry. A reforestation project of mangrove trees, funded by Shell, has now turned into a carbon project, which will exacerbate the climate impacts for communities. Among the profiteers from the fossil fuels’ extraction in Senegal is BP and Shell.
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22 July 2023This article reflects on the instrumental role that the certification schemes of carbon credits play in the framework of the green economy, as well as on the interests and contradictions that are intrinsic to this certification process.
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22 July 2023After 14 years of profiting from tree plantations—and at the cost of destroying wetlands and communities—the Harvard Management Company, one of the largest investment funds, sold 88,000 hectares in Corrientes to Argentina's largest electric power company, Central Puerto, which also wants to produce wood, biomass energy and carbon offsets.
FROM THE WRM BULLETIN ARCHIVES
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22 July 2023In this bulletin, focused on the violence that the so-called ‘green economy’ represents for Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities, we remember an interview with Josephina Lema, member of the Otavalo people of the Kichwa (Quechua) nation.
RECOMMENDED
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22 July 2023In Jujuy, in northwest Argentina, indigenous communities and workers from different sectors are fighting against a provincial constitutional reform that was approved in June 2023. The reform enables lithium extraction in indigenous territories and criminalizes social protest, among other rights violations.
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22 July 2023DW news portal investigated ongoing socio-environmental conflicts in Brazil related to Suzano, which manages over a million hectares of eucalyptus plantations across the country and plans to almost double that in the next decade.
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22 July 2023An article from ProPublica exposes how the World Bank Group is backing up biodiversity offset projects via its arm that works with private companies, the International Finance Corporation, which has funded at least 19 with biodiversity offsets.
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22 July 2023The Brazilian justice system annulled the registration of two properties of Agropalma, the largest sustainable palm oil producer in the Americas, due to the fact that they were usurped lands.
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22 July 2023Activists from the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) and the World March of Women share their reflections after an exchange that took place in Brazil, with activists from different territories in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
