COP16: Grassroots Voices in a Global Crisis
November 29th kicks off the two-week long 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico.
Victory in Chile! Court Blocks Power Plant
A proposed thermoelectric plant in northern Chile threatened to contaminate coastal ecosystems and local communities. On Monday, an appeals court shot down the proposal.
Five Months Since the Water Receded: An Update on the Chilean Disaster Recovery Fund
First the ground shook, then a nine-foot wall of water slammed into the tiny fishing villages lining the Chilean coast. Most had the chance to run for the hills, yet over 250 people were swept out to sea. As the survivors found their way back to their villages in the predawn light, many found their homes, stores, warehouses, and boats –– their livelihoods –– destroyed.
Indigenous Rights Activist, Grantee, Faces Unfair Deportation from Peru
Paul McAuley, a British missionary who has worked tirelessly on behalf of Amazonian communities facing invasive oil and gas development, has been accused of ‘inciting unrest’ by the Peruvian government – an offense that has threatened expulsion from his home of more than 20 years.
Reflections from Guatemala – Where the Forests Signify Water
The forests of Totonicapan cover about 45,000 acres – an impressive reach in the densely populated aldeas in this central part of Guatemala near Quetzaltenango. The twenty-eight communities that steward these forests are Quiche Maya, descendants of royalty who settled in this valley centuries ago. For them, a healthy forest signifies clean water, and they continue a long-held tradition of protecting and tending to their trees.