Empty “ESG Management Recommendations” inattentive to victims’ voices are only deceptive Korea’s NCP should do its part in providing remedies for victims instead of advertising company and government policies On the 18th of January, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and...
Economic Justice and Resisting Neoliberalism
We believe our economic system should improve people’s lives and the environment. Yet the current dominant economic thinking —often referred to as neoliberalism— puts greed and private interests ahead of people and the planet.
Popular movements now and in the past show us there is another way forward. The domination of neoliberalism needs to be challenged to be able to create better conditions for alternative systems with a more sustainable and equitable approach.
Trade agreements, investment contracts and resource use policies are often conducted without public access. Yet these affect the lives of peoples and communities. They could spell the displacement of communities, violation of peoples’ rights and the destruction of the environment. The work forward requires exposing and challenging the influence of big corporations and international institutions, interrogating the neoliberal policies promoted by development banks and opposing trade negotiations that open market access to corporations instead of taking people’s needs into account. We point out the contradictions of the current development model and expose how today’s economic system benefits a few while impoverishing many.
With social movements, including feminists, indigenous people and peasant movements around the world, we work in solidarity against destructive logging by big companies, the push for large scale agro-industrial plantations, and mining investments and projects that local communities do not want. We advocate for a legally binding treaty to hold transnational corporations to account on human rights and environmental abuses. We expose and denounce the power of corporations in policies and practices that prevent communities from asserting their rights to sustainable livelihoods and environmental justice.
We advocate economic justice solutions that promote sustainable and culturally appropriate livelihoods like cooperatives and public services that reduce inequality, contribute to equitable power relations including between women and men and expand the role of cooperation, community management and sustainable planning in all aspects of life.
“People powered solutions show a pathway to change; our challenge is to scale them up.”
Hemantha Withnage, Centre for Environmental Justice, Sri Lanka
For more information contact:
Regional Program Coordinators
Email: foeapac_programmes@lists.foei.org
Questioning the Government of Indonesia’s Commitment to Restore Mangrove Forests by 2024
On 11 February 2022, at the One Ocean Summit, President Joko Widodo stated that under his leadership, the Indonesian government was rehabilitating 600 hectares of mangrove forest until 2024. According to President Jokowi, the rehabilitation of mangrove forests is one...Need to heed warnings from mother earth
It is Earth Day once again on April 22. As we have said before, it is not enough to dedicate one day in a year to remember her if we are to save her and save ourselves. We must remember her every day and put the environment and ecology at the centre of...KTNC Watch condemns Korean NCP for failing indigenous peoples who lost their forests to palm oil plantations
Samsung C&T fined 15.3 million USD for a large-scale fire at an Oil Palm Plantation in Indonesia
On November 10, 2021, Riau District Court, Indonesia, sentenced Samsung C&T’s subsidiary in Indonesia to a fine of 15.3 million USD for violating the Law 32 of 2009 on Protection and Environmental Management. In September 2019, a large-scale fire broke out burning...
We call for a just recovery for Gaza and an immediate end to Israel’s illegal occupation.
In June 2007, Israel intensified their enclosure of the Gaza Strip. This left 2 million people trapped in the largest open prison in human history. In 2016, the UN Secretary-General called it “a collective punishment for which there must be accountability.” While the...