Aerial bombardment of peasants in Sumatran village

Berlin, 23rd December 2008

Press Release

On Thursday, 18th December, hundreds of police and paramilitaries attacked the Sumatran village Suluk Bongkal in Riau Province with tear gas and guns. A helicopter dropped incendiary devices on the village, with eye witnesses alleging that napalm was used. Hundreds of houses immediately went up in flames. Two young children were killed and many people were injured. Most of the villagers have fled into the forest. Others have been arrested. Two days later, a helicopter flew ... read more

Posted on 04:31 AM in Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Pulp & Paper, Environment & Climate, Watch's Press Releases & Statements
Tags: Indonesia, land rights, human rights, pulp and paper, plantations, Police, rain forest destruction, Sumatra, economy and business

(Deutsch) Nachhaltige Profitmaximierung. Der Palmöl-Industrielle Komplex und die Debatte um „nachhaltige Biotreibstoffe“

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German version

Posted on 02:37 PM in Agro Fuels, Indonesia, Publications, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), European Union (EU), Indonesia, palm oil, rain forest destruction, environment and climate, economy and business, certification, civil society

(Deutsch) Wilmar weiter auf Raubbaukurs

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German version

Posted on 02:45 PM in Agro Fuels, Indonesia, Publications, Rainforest, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: Indonesia, land rights, palm oil, rain forest destruction, environment and climate, economy and business

European Union and French Presidency seek to push forward with destructive and unsustainable biofuel target

02 December 2008

Press release from Biofuel Watch, Corporate Europe Observatory, Econexus, Grupo de Reflexión Rural, Rettet den Regenwald and Watch Indonesia!

Campaigners today (Tuesday) accused the French Presidency and the European Union of pushing ahead with dangerous and unsustainable agrofuel targets, with a view to reaching a deal on the Renewable Energy Directive on Wednesday. The target as proposed (1) would greatly increase the use of agrofuels (biofuels from crops and trees) in Europe, with no credible protection ... read more

Posted on 03:21 PM in Agro Fuels, Joint Press Releases & Statements, Publications, Environment & Climate
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), European Union (EU), land rights, rain forest destruction, environment and climate

Governments of eight producer countries state that sustainability of agrofuels cannot be guaranteed

01 December 2008

Open Letter to MEPs:

Since EU target is conditional on sustainability, EU should drop the target

On 6th November, the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Malawi, Mozambique and Sierra Leone wrote an Open Letter to The Council, Parliament and Commission of the European Communities, in which they made it clear that they strongly object to proposed sustainability standards for agrofuels. Those eight countries are amongst the main countries from which the EU is likely ... read more

Posted on 08:25 AM in Agro Fuels, Joint Open Letters, Indonesia, Publications, Environment & Climate
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), European Union (EU), Indonesia, human rights, rain forest destruction, environment and climate

(Deutsch) Biodiesel aus Palmöl und nachhaltige Produktion in Indonesien – Ein Widerspruch in sich?

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German version

Posted on 06:20 PM in Agro Fuels, Indonesia, Publications, Environment & Climate, Watch Indonesia! in the Media
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), Indonesia, palm oil, rain forest destruction, environment and climate, certification

(Deutsch) Benbi – Berliner Entwicklungspolitisches Bildungsprogramm 2008

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German version

Posted on 03:56 PM in Activities, Indonesia, Environment & Climate
Tags: Indonesia, palm oil, environment and climate

International Declaration Against the ‘Greenwashing’ of Palm Oil by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

In defence of Human Rights, Food Sovereignty, Biodiversity and Climate Justice

Ironically, on 16 October 2008, World Food and Food Sovereignty Day, a meeting will start in Cartagena (Colombia) to promote monoculture oil palm plantations, that are precisely the cause of so many violations of the Right to Food and contrary to food sovereignty insofar as they undermine the peoples’ right to produce their own food according to their territorial conditions and their food culture.

The First ... read more

Posted on 04:58 PM in Agro Fuels, Joint Open Letters, Human Rights, Indonesia, Publications, Environment & Climate
Tags: Indonesia, human rights, palm oil, environment and climate

Final Moratorium Call on Promotion of Agrofuels

2nd October 2008

To: Coreper, the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, Claude Turmes (MEP) CC: ITRE and ENVI

Re: EU agrofuel targets

Dear Madam, Sir, In light of the upcoming negotiations between the Council, the European Commission and Claude Turmes (MEP) on the Renewable Energy Directive, the undersigned organisations are calling on  you once again, with the utmost urgency, to drop all agrofuel targets and to install a moratorium on the promotion of agrofuels and agro-energy. Despite overwhelming evidence of numerous ... read more

Posted on 03:31 PM in Agro Fuels, Joint Open Letters, Indonesia, Publications, Environment & Climate
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), European Union (EU), Indonesia, land rights, palm oil, environment and climate

Agrofuels and the Myth of the Marginal Lands

September 2008

A briefing by The Gaia Foundation, Biofuelwatch, the African Biodiversity Network, Salva La Selva, Watch Indonesia! and EcoNexus

MARGINAL, IDLE, DEGRADED, UNDER–UTLISED, SLEEPING, WASTELANDS AND ABANDONED CROPLANDS: all of these are different terms for what is being promoted as the „solution” to the impacts of growing crops for agrofuels. Partly in order to respond to accusations that agrofuels (also known as biofuels) compete with food production, some policy makers have proposed that agrofuel crops should be planted on ... read more

Posted on 03:06 AM in Agro Fuels, joint position papers, Human Rights, Indonesia, Land & Indigenous Rights, Publications, Environment & Climate
Tags: agrofuel ("biofuel"), Indonesia, carbon, land rights, plantations, rain forest destruction, environment and climate