Californians are renowned for being environmental savvy, so we at Oilwatch International were dismayed to learn that the State of California may let climate criminals like Shell and Chevron off the hook by including a false solution to climate change called REDD in its global warming law. REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) is a carbon offset scheme whereby polluters use forests and land as supposed sponges for their pollution instead of reducing CO2 emissions at source.
News
Open call to join the Climate Space at the World Social Forum in Tunisia
The 2013 World Social Forum will be held this March 26-30 in Tunisia, where only two years ago, a revolution began and resulted into a historic change that created a ripple effect on the region. Now, Tunisia is an inspiration to movements both old and new, across the globe.
Acción Ecologica and Oilwatch receive International Award
On February 2nd, during the 13th session of Environmental Development in New Delhi India, Accion Ecologica amd Oilwatch got the Georgescu-Roegen award. It was given by the president of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change R.K. Pachauri, on behalf of a jury composed by several ‘green economy’ figures such as Herman Daly and Joan Martinez Alier.Georgescu-Roegen was a Romanian mathematician, statistician and economist better known for his book: Law of Entropy and the Economical Process. He was the first economist to talk about thermodynamics and entropy.
Announcing the Oilwatch Africa General Assembly
Against the backdrop of the increasing interest in Africa by oil speculators and their aggressive determination to sink in their claws in every corner of the continent, the Oilwatch General Assembly will be taking place on the 14th to the 17th of May, 2012. Oil and gas and the promise of stupendous profits power up companies and governments who are insentitive to the plight of local peoples whose hopes for a better future are never realised.
The conference will be taking place in Accra, Ghana and is expected to be attended by oil watchers from across the continent who will be sharing ideas, honing strategies and creating stronger webs of resistance to degrading and unsustainable extraction. The theme for the conference is Oil Over Africa: Oil, Economic Booms and Bursts.
"Its a scandal of epic proportions that the world is silent"
Between 23 and 30 April 2012, thousands of Amnesty International activists from over 14 countries will participate in organized events and protests calling on Shell to stop hiding the devastating effects that their activities in the Niger Delta have in the life of the people and the environment
Amnesty International recently had a chat with Nnimmo Bassey, one of the most recognized environmental leaders in the country of Nigeria
Shell Nigeria spill 60 times worse than said - Amnesty
An oil spill in Nigeria for which Royal Dutch Shell is being sued for tens of millions of dollars in a London court was at least 60 times worse than it announced, a report by Amnesty International said on Monday, citing research it commissioned.
To Cook A Continent
Arguing that the climate crisis confronting the world today is rooted mainly in the wealthy economies’ abuse of fossil fuels, indigenous forests, and global commercial agriculture, this important book by Nnimmo Bassey investigates how Africa has been exploited and how Africans should respond for the good of all. As it examines the oil industry in Africa and probes the causes of global warming, this record warns of its insidious impacts and explores false solutions. Demonstrating that the issues around natural resource exploitation, corporate profiteering, and climate change must be considered together if the planet is to be saved, the book suggests how Africa can overcome the crises of environment and global warming.
Gambling with gas
Ghana has this month reverted to electricity rationing, thanks to unreliable Nigerian gas supplies. But petty bickering over the location of Ghana’s unduly delayed gas infrastructure to harness local gas will cost the country in many more ways than meets the eye. The delay is already estimated to cost the country and the Jubilee partners several hundred million dollars in unrealised potential revenue from oil production. And now the decision to relocate the US$1.2billion facility from Bonyere to Atuabo is undermining social stability in two coastal Nzema communities in the Western Region.
Announcing the Age of Yasuni
The mobile videogame, Age of Yasuní is now available for download. This is an effort to draw attention to the plight of indigenous peoples and the threat of oil to their fragile and biodiverse territories around the planet.
From the game you can learn, What is Yasuní? Why defend it? What are the threats caused by the expansion of the oil frontier?
We would like to invite you to be part of a global effort to publicize this initiative among your friends, network lists and in your web pages, and help us get the word out electronically so that people will download the game from the Apple Appstore and Google Play
The Quito Declaration
The fourth Oilwatch General Assembly gathered in Quito on the 23rd and 24 rd of July, 2011:
Recognizing:
That we are living in a planetary crisis without precedent in the history of humanity, that in many ways it is already a catastrophic situation that demands global actions and commitments;
That this crisis is not just a financial or environmental crisis, it is an industrial, climatic, social and political crisis, and that therefore the solutions cannot be restricted to just one sphere;
