Fossil Fuels
The burning of oil, coal and natural gas is causing climate chaos. What's more, extraction of these fossil fuels and, increasingly, the use of geothermal and biomass energy, is also destroying livelihoods and forests. Energy corporations systematically call on States to violently suppress community resistance against this destruction. Fossil fuels in particular have left a trail of destruction and violent oppression, while a small number of companies has pocketed astronomical profits.
This article highlights the voices of Justiça Ambiental! in Mozambique and the African ecofeminist alliance WoMIN.
These companies have destroyed large territories and the devastation that comes with their fossil fuel extraction continues. Now, they are putting forest protection and tree planting at the heart of their climate strategies
The crisis in Venezuela from 2013 to 2021 has caused the collapse of a nation that was built around oil over the last 100 years. This has created a situation characterized by the emergence of mining-dominated predatory extractivism.
Communities have a long history of confronting the disasters imposed by corporations and elites. For them, the “emergency” was a reality well before the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, profit-seekers are abusing the situation to advance land grabs and roll back legislation.
Members of the WRM’s Advisory Committee were invited to contribute to this special Bulletin with reflections on the devastating situation of deepening injustices that forest communities and peasant families around the world are facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.