Large-Scale Mining

Fueled by ever-increasing demand and the boom-and-bust cycles of global commodity markets, large-scale mining destroys forests and pollutes soil, air and water. Violent conflicts, sexual exploitation, criminalization and displacement of communities living in forests destroyed for mining, are examples of social impacts that are inherently linked with the mining industry.

Bulletin articles 23 April 2025

Degrading instead of recovering territories: Plantations for the carbon market in the Colombian Orinoquía

Several companies have been expanding their tree plantations in the Colombian Orinoquía, which is increasing longstanding conflicts and violence. “These are not reforestation companies, but deforestation companies, because they have introduced invasive tree species that are not native to the territory – like acacia, eucalyptus and pine trees. So they are driving out what naturally grows here” - Indigenous Sikuani Leader

Bulletin articles 22 August 2024

The Orinoquía region of Colombia: Between oblivion, extractivism and an agricultural reserve

Colombia's Orinoquía region stretches from the foothills of the country's eastern mountain range to the Venezuelan border. This region has historically been associated with the exploitation of rubber, timber, furs and other so-called “natural resources,” to the detriment of ancestral communities. Today, new threats are emerging under the paradigm of conservation, green energy and carbon projects.

Bulletin articles 27 February 2024

How different forms of ‘green’ extractivism are causing the destruction of the Amazon forest

The Amazon region is one of the final frontiers of resistance to capital expansion. This is epitomized by the struggles of social activists such as Chico Mendes, as well as by the presence of most of the earth’s remaining indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. However, different forms of ‘green’ extractivism are currently and increasingly advancing on this territory.

Bulletin articles 26 February 2024

Colombia: The “energy transition” jeopardizes the northwestern Amazon basin

Mocoa is located between the Andean mountains and the Colombian Amazon, in the middle of one of the most important river basins of the country; in this territory, indigenous communities, Afro-Descendants, peasants and settlers coexist. The growing demand for minerals for the “decarbonization” of the world is a threat to this region, where mining companies are trying to move forward with underground copper extraction.

Articles 28 April 2022

Blood Coal for Blood Carbon in Colombia: Expansion of Carbon Taxes with REDD+ underscores the Failure of Carbon Pricing

This article outlines the carbon pricing system in Colombia and reveals how mining companies have been using REDD+ to legally avoid paying taxes while claiming ‘carbon neutrality’.

Bulletin articles 15 July 2019

Infrastructure in Africa for Extractive Industries and Corporate Profits: What about Community Needs?

The mega-infrastructure corridors prioritized in ambitious investment programmes spanning the african continent are squarely focused on facilitating the export of minerals and agricultural commodity crops and the import of processed foods and manufactured goods.

Bulletin articles 9 January 2018

Southern African women organising against the violence of extractivism

The extractivist paradigm in Southern Africa threatens the lives and livelihoods of peasant communities, in particular women and girls: From the Tete Province in Mozambique, where women confront water scarcity and pollution to Zimbabwe’s Marange community, where militarised and often sexualised violence haunts women’s daily lives.