It has been a month since police opened fire on a workers peaceful demonstration at the under-construction Banshkhali Coal Power plant in Bangladesh. They were defending their worker’s rights and payment of their overdue salary. Real World Radio recently spoke with...
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
Developed Countries Should Not Export Waste
Media Statement 31 March 202 Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) applauds the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) for being diligent in inspecting the suspected shipment of plastic waste from the United States of America (USA). Nevertheless, exporting countries,...
Human Chain to Protect Local Waterways
On 4 March, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and community members from Charkanai, Hulaieel, Panchuria, and Habilashdeep villages organised a human chain event in Panchuria Bazar area of Patia, Chattogram. The action follows an ongoing legal battle...
Indian farmers lead historic struggle for Food Sovereignty, Anti-fascism, Democracy and Human Rights
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KFEM tackles waste in 2020
In 2020, the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM), together with 320 citizens, held four neighborhood clean-ups. As well as waste collection, the group conducted surveys on the collected garbage, identifying common brands and rubbish types. Based on the...
Communities in Bangladesh mobilise against toxic waste in local canals
MAAR Ltd.’s Toxic Operations Maize Advance Agro Refineries Limited (MAAR Ltd.), a factory producing dry starch from Maize, has allegedly been dumping untreated toxic industrial waste into the Ekhtiarpur canal in Habiganj’s Madhabpur Upazila, Bangladesh. ...
Communities say NO to MAAR Ltd.’s toxic waste
Maize Advance Agro Refineries Limited (MAAR Ltd.) has allegedly been dumping untreated toxic industrial waste into the Ekhtiarpur canal in Habiganj’s Madhabpur Upazila, Bangladesh. MAAR Ltd. started operation in Bangladesh in 2012. The local environment administration...
VICTORY: Sri Lankan court orders waste containers to return to the UK
On October 15, after a year-long court process, the Sri Lankan Court of Appeal has ordered the repatriation of 243 waste containers imported from the United Kingdom (UK). The Court also requested that government authorities take legal action against the companies...
INDIA: Ongoing repercussions and demands after massive fire in oil well
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