Friends of the Earth India (FoE India) stands in solidarity with the people of Plachimada in Kerala, India, who have been waiting for years for compensation for the losses they have suffered due to Coca-Cola Company’s plant in the region. In addition, FoE India raises...
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
Friends of the Earth India extends full solidarity to the fishers and farmers resisting the ecologically destructive Vizhinjam Sea Port
Friends of the Earth India extends its solidarity to the fishers of Trivandrum, Kerala, who are demanding immediate end to the construction of the Adani Vizhinjam International Seaport. The project is an ‘international transshipment deep water multipurpose seaport’...
Groups urge 2nd largest shipping company in the world to stop shipping plastic waste
PRESS RELEASE Kuala Lumpur, 28 June 2022: In conjunction with the 2022 UN Ocean Conference which kicked off yesterday with an interactive dialogue on addressing marine pollution, Malaysia Break Free from Plastics - Stop Waste Trade Coalition joined groups from...
NGOs urge all state governments to follow Selangor’s example and stop plastic waste imports
Selangor’s Exco for State Tourism and Environment, YB Hee Loy Sian announced on 19 May 2022 five new policies with regard to the operation of plastic waste recycling factories in the state, including not allowing the import of plastic waste for the purpose of recovery...
KTNC Watch condemns Korean NCP for failing indigenous peoples who lost their forests to palm oil plantations
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...
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...
Launched! Toolkit: Throwing away the throw-away culture
Sahabat Alam Malaysia – Friends’ of the Earth Malaysia (SAM) has launched a brand new downloadable and easy-to-use toolkit on how you can achieve a sustainable plastic-free lifestyle. This toolkit is filled with lots of simple ways to move a little closer towards zero...
C4 Center-SAM joint forum against imported plastic waste sheds light on impact
PRESS RELEASE - 29 July 2021 A forum jointly organised by the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) on improving monitoring and enforcement against illegal waste processing in Kedah and Penang has shed light on the...