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...
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
Japanese government announced to halt its supports for Matarbari 2 and Indramayu coal plants
Joint statement: Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES) Kiko Network Friends of the Earth Japan 350.org Japan Mekong Watch On June 22, it has been reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced to halt Official Development...Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework underway
Between 21 and 26 June 2022, the United Nations (UN) Open Ended Working Group 4 (OEWG4) is meeting in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss the draft of a new framework for biodiversity under the the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). More than 1300 registered participants...Samsung C&T fined 15.3 million USD for a large-scale fire at an Oil Palm Plantation in Indonesia
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...