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When you look at a patch of dry and dusty ground in the hot, semi-arid Sahel, it may be hard to imagine that a rich ecosystem is hidden beneath your feet. Fortunately, in hundreds of communities in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal, more and more people are well aware that the roots of a greener future lie under the earth.

Since 2018, Both ENDS has cooperated with partners – including Centre Régional d’Enseignement Spécialisé en Agriculture (CRESA, Niger), Secrétariat Permanent des ONG (SPONG, Burking Faso), and Innovation, Environnement, Développement Afrique (IED Afrique, Senegal) – to support local communities in regreening the Sahel. Thanks to the programme, more than 65,000 farmers are now practicing Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) to facilitate regrowth of trees and shrubs.

LOCALLY-LED APPROACH

In the Sahel’s arid environment, where access to water is limited, FMNR provides an accessible, affordable, and, most importantly, sustainable approach to ecosystem restoration. By nurturing the region’s ‘underground forests’ of roots, stumps and seeds, farmers have successfully regreened nearly 140,000 hectares of land in the Sahel. In addition to enhancing soil fertility and water retention, farmers have increased their incomes, strengthened their resilience to climate change, and improved social cohesion in their communities.

The success of the programme – which has taken place in a context of persistent instability, conflict and violence – is due to the locally-led approach. More than 800 village committees, which include representatives of different groups within the communities, have been established to manage the continued regreening efforts. The programme facilitates training and technical support, but it is local farmers who are driving the change. In 2024 alone, nearly 15,000 farmers were trained in FMNR.

Since the beginning of the programme, nearly 90,000 farmers have learned about FMNR. Across the three countries, FMNR ‘champion’ farmers are now inspiring others in their communities to adopt FMNR by letting them see for themselves that the approach works. On regreened FMNR plots, champion farmers are training others in FMNR techniques, such as pruning and the creation of micro-basins around saplings. Since the roots of the programme are local – both literally and figuratively – the regreening continues even when villages become inaccessible to local partners due to the security situation.

AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

A key part of the Communities Regreen the Sahel programme is to create an enabling environment for FMNR – to promote awareness and broader support, including through policies, economic incentives and funding for Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration at all levels, from the local to the global. The village committees, which often include local leaders from both farming and pastoralist communities, serve as an important space to discuss and further promote FMNR, as well as to make agreements about land use and resolve potential conflicts, such as those between farmers and nomadic pastoralists. Both communities – whose different uses of land can lead to conflict – have much to gain from regreening, as well as from clearer arrangements around land use.

In order to create an economic incentive to accelerate the adoption and sustainability of FMNR by farmers, the Communities Regreen the Sahel programme also supports local women’s groups, union and federations in the processing and sale of FMNR foods (e.g. fruits, nuts, and leafy vegetables, as well as non-timber forest products, such as shea butter, oil and honey).

At the municipal level, meetings with policymakers have yielded success. In 2024, for example, partners in Senegal secured mayoral commitments to integrate FMNR funding into municipal development plans. Significant results were also achieved at the national level. In 2024, the government of Senegal revised its Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral Orientation Law, formally recognising FMNR as a key approach to improving productivity and resilience. Senegal’s official recognition of FMNR helps pave the way for its broader adoption across the country. (The decision follows the example of Niger, which in 2020 became one of the first countries to formally promote FMNR through a presidential decree).

Both ENDS is working with partners in the Sahel to ensure that FMNR receives the attention and support it deserves among international audiences. In 2024, we participated in key conferences, including the International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change, hosted by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and held in Tanzania, and the Accelerating Nature Based Solutions Conference, organised by the Global Evergreening Alliance in Zambia. At the latter event, we organised a well-attended side event on the Communities Regreen the Sahel programme, which resulted in valuable new connections with other actors in the field.

We also attended the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP16 in Saudi Arabia and the UN Climate Conference (UNFCCC) COP29 in Azerbaijan, where we organised and participated in various side events to showcase FMNR as an integrated solution to land degradation, food insecurity and climate change. At a Board Meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in Rwanda, we engaged with key decision-makers to advocate for increased access to GCF funding for civil society organisations and for locally-driven action on climate change. Our awareness-raising and advocacy in these global policymaking spaces in 2024 attracted the attention of key actors, including bilateral donors and government officials from Burkina Faso and Senegal, who attended the side-events.

NEW PARTNERSHIPS, NEW DIRECTIONS

Meanwhile, thanks to our proven track record and clear impact, Both ENDS, CRESA, SPONG, and IED Afrique have succeeded in attracting new sources of funding to build on the solid foundations of the Communities Regreen the Sahel programme. With technical support from Both ENDS, SPONG took the lead on a proposal with CRESA and IED Afrique aimed at strengthening land tenure security with respect to restoration efforts. The project, which takes up lessons learned from the existing programme, was awarded funding from Reversing Environmental Degradation in Africa and Asia (REDAA), a programme funded by UK International Development from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

And in July, Both ENDS and the Sahel partners were thrilled to launch an exciting new three-year partnership with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) aimed at fostering resilient food systems in the Sahel. The new programme, which capitalises on the social and environmental results of the Communities Regreen the Sahel programme, focuses on improving livelihoods and nutrition, and massively upscaling FMNR through better legislation, policies and budgets. A key aspect of the new programme is support for small-scale women food producers to establish and strengthen value chains for FMNR foods and non-timber forest products.

Thanks to the resounding success of the Communities Regreen the Sahel programme, and the widespread adoption of FMNR in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal, communities across the region are now poised to turn the tide on under-nourishment and ecosystem degradation. Greener pastures are already growing.

Pruning and protecting young trees is one of the technical aspects of FMNR; yet the practice contains much more

Through FMNR, farmers have increased their incomes, strengthened their resilience to climate change, and improved social cohesion in their communities

In July, Both ENDS and the Sahel partners were thrilled to launch an exciting new three-year partnership with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) aimed at fostering resilient food systems

Both ENDS collaborates with partners worldwide to tackle the root causes of inequality and environmental degradation, many of which are embedded in the current global trade and investment system. Bilateral investment treaties (BIT) and other international investment agreements, such as the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), often give corporations the right to sue governments for policies, such as measures to reduce carbon emissions or limit use of toxic chemicals, that may affect their (potential) profitmaking. Through Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), as the system is known, corporations can bring their cases to an extrajudicial tribunal whose decisions can oblige a government to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to investors. The mere threat of an ISDS case can create a chilling effect on sound policymaking in favour of the interests of people, human rights, the environment and the climate.

Together with partners, Both ENDS has helped increase knowledge and awareness about the harm of ISDS in bilateral investment treaties. Thanks to decades’ of work on the topic, more and more countries have reconsidered such treaties and the ISDS system, and are pursuing a path toward more equitable and sustainable investment partnerships. In the last decade, South Africa, Indonesia, India, Ecuador, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania have all taken steps to renegotiate their investment treaties, including by terminating their BITs with the Netherlands.

In these processes, civil society organisations in the named countries and Both ENDS joined hands. We exchanged information and technical knowledge and engaged in joint strategizing. Both ENDS used its expertise, amongst other things, to create a map with key information about the status of all Dutch BITs that contain ISDS.

The most recent termination of a BIT with the Netherlands was done by Kenya, after an extensive review of its international investment agreements with the aim of ensuring better alignment with development objectives and sovereignty concerns. The decision marked a huge victory for civil society organisations in Kenya, who campaigned for a new investment paradigm that contributes to sustainable development and benefits Kenyan society, particularly women and young people. Through their #TerminateKenyaDutchBIT campaign, partner organisations in Kenya effectively raised public awareness and focused policymakers’ attention on the need to terminate the treaty. Also in this case, Both ENDS shared its expertise at the request of our partners.

THE ENTEBBE DECLARATION: A NEW VISION ON GLOBAL INVESTMENT

The termination of the Kenya-Netherlands BIT marked an important step in the right direction – an opportunity for both countries to better align their investment policies with social justice and sustainability principles. Following Kenya’s decision, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited Both ENDS and partners to share perspectives on how future BITs could be structured. These discussions inspired the idea for a broader convening of civil society organisations, academics and former policymakers to discuss the key features of a new, improved system of governance for global investment.

Hosted by the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), a longstanding partner of Both ENDS, and co-organised by Both ENDS, and FGG Alliance allies SOMO and the Transnational Institute, over 50 participants from 20 countries gathered in Entebbe, Uganda in November to rewrite the rules of the global investment regime. The Civil Society Forum on ‘Aligning Investment Policy Frameworks to Climate and Sustainable Development Goals’ resulted in the groundbreaking Entebbe Declaration, a unified call from participating civil society organisations for transformation of the investment system.

The declaration, which gives a voice to those who are normally excluded from policymaking on global investment, offers a clear and actionable roadmap for change. The declaration calls for the replacement of ISDS with mechanisms that respect state sovereignty and prioritise the welfare of people and the planet over corporate profits. It insists that investment frameworks must actively support climate goals by promoting renewable energy, ending fossil fuel subsidies, and financing green transitions. The declaration also emphasises the importance of community-led development, technology transfer, and investments that create local value. Crucially, the declaration also demands binding corporate accountability for human rights and environmental protection. With the Entebbe Declaration in hand, Both ENDS and partners are bringing these points to policymakers around the world, including in the Netherlands, the EU and at key international forums of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, UN trade commissions (UNCTAD and UNCITRAL) and the World Trade Organization.

ISDS IN THE ENERGY CHARTER TREATY: PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES AHEAD

As the Entebbe Declaration makes clear, the world urgently needs an investment governance system that facilitates a green and just energy transition, which means putting a nail in the coffin of the Energy Charter Treaty, the international investment agreement under which the most ISDS cases are filed. We celebrated an important victory in the fight to end ISDS in June, when the EU, with nearly unanimous support of the European Parliament, officially withdrew from the ECT. The EU decision followed years of successful campaigning in Europe and was prompted by decisions of several EU member states, including the Netherlands in 2022, to withdraw. For years, Both ENDS, together with our allies in the Fair, Green and Global Alliance, has co-authored reports, and provided technical support to allies and partners, particularly to prevent expansion of ECT and its ISDS clause to new countries in the Global South. In its decision, the EU echoed our key concerns about the ECT’s incompatibility with climate and sustainable development goals.

Unfortunately, the EU withdrawal only goes into effect in 2025. Just months after the EU’s official decision, ExxonMobil announced an ISDS lawsuit against the Netherlands for the closing of gas fields in Groningen, where communities have been severely damaged by earthquakes due to gas extraction. If ExxonMobil succeeds, billions of Dutch taxpayer dollars would flow into its pockets, adding to the billions in profits they’ve made from exploiting Groningen’s natural resources. Going forward, Both ENDS, together with partners and allies in the Handel Anders coalition, aims to raise awareness about the lawsuit and draw the links to similar struggles in the Global South and the urgent need for change.

In 2024, the Bilateral Investment Treaty between Kenya and the Netherlands stopped

Over 50 participants from 20 countries gathered in Entebbe, Uganda in November to rewrite the rules of the global investment regime

Gas drilling in Groningen. ExxonMobil announced an ISDS lawsuit against the Netherlands for the closing of these gas fields. Photo by 350.org

Drynet at the UNCCD Conference

Every year, the planet loses some 100 million hectares of healthy, productive land. Land degradation, desertification and drought are affecting the lives of hundreds of millions of people, exacerbating hunger and poverty worldwide. The impacts often fall hardest on those most likely to be excluded from decision-making, including women, youth, small-scale farmers, pastoralists and Indigenous Peoples.

It’s problems like these that make a strong civil society indispensable. Civil society organisations (CSOs) see the impacts of such problems first-hand. They work directly with affected communities to develop and implement locally-led solutions. Their insights and recommendations are crucial for the development of effective policies at all levels, from the local to the global.

DRYNET: AMPLIFYING VOICES FROM DRYLANDS

Both ENDS is committed to supporting civil society organisations to influence decision-making and advance environmental justice, including by building strong networks. Since 2007, we have joined forces with partners from all over the world as part of the Drynet network. Drynet insists that to effectively counter land degradation, local organisations and communities living in drylands must be at the heart of the solution. By directly linking local groups with policy makers and engaging them in broader debates, Drynet aims to ensure that their voices are heard in important decision-making processes.

Drynet has proven its worth as an organising force in the processes of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), among other forums. The UNCCD is an important international policymaking space, as its decisions help shape national policies on land use. It is also an important space for civil society organisations to develop relationships and credibility among national policymakers. CSOs are often taken more seriously in their own national contexts, and invited to contribute to the development and implementation of national polices, as a result of their participation in collective advocacy at UNCCD meetings.

In 2024, Both ENDS was pleased to join other Drynet members at the UNCCD COP16, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Together, we presented ten detailed recommendations to UNCCD decision-makers. Among other things, we called for robust implementation of the UNCCD’s landmark decision recognising informal, collective and customary land tenure; increased support for people-centred drought management strategies; and targeted policies and programmes for sustainable and inclusive rangeland management.

WOMEN-LED INITIATIVES AND WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS ESSENTIAL

Women’s efforts to restore and care for land are essential for achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), a key goal of the UNCCD. Strengthening land rights – particularly women’s land rights – and support for women-led action on land degradation is a top priority for Both ENDS. We are active in the UNCCD Gender Caucus, where we contribute to key publications and strategies, and support activities aimed at raising the profile of gender-responsive land management and women’s rights to land. We also participate in the Women’s Land Rights Initiative, organised by TMG Think Tank for Sustainability and Robert Bosch Stiftung, which aims to strengthen women’s land rights not only in the UNCCD, but also in the UN Conventions on Biodiversity (UNCBD) and climate change (UNFCCC).

At COP16, we co-organised a side event, together with the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Landesa, focused on unlocking finance for women-led initiatives. Moderated by Both ENDS, the session underscored the need to make finance more accessible for women’s organisations. The session triggered valuable discussion and insights about how ‘impact’ is defined and measured, and the implications for funding of women-led initiatives.

ENHANCING THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN ENDING LAND DEGRADATION

Together with our colleagues in Drynet, Both ENDS has worked for decades to develop CSO capacity to influence policy and secure funding for locally-led initiatives for sustainable land use and restoration. In all of our work, Both ENDS highlights the value and effectiveness of local leadership and knowledge. During the COP16 panel discussion, ‘Can Science Better Inform and Shape Solutions?’, organised as part of the UNCCD Science Policy Interface, we emphasised the need for co-creation of knowledge through collaboration between scientists and local groups, including women, youth, farmers, pastoralists and Indigenous communities. Another session, co-organised with TMG Think Tank for Sustainability, focused on enhancing civil society participation in the UNCCD. Together with some 30 participants, we discussed mechanisms to enhance dialogue and joint strategising among CSOs engaged in the UNCCD, as well as opportunities to foster engagement between local civil society and national policymakers on desertification and land degradation issues.

With a large contingent of the Drynet network in attendance, COP16 also provided the perfect moment to embark on a new journey together. We were thrilled to launch an exciting new three-year project, ‘Strengthening Civil Society Role in Achieving Land Degradation Neutrality’. Supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the new project is a collaboration between Both ENDS, Drynet, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to develop civil society organisations’ knowledge and capacities on the UNCCD and LDN, support their participation in key UNCCD international events, improve their access to funding for LDN, and strengthen communications and outreach, including by sharing stories of successful locally-led initiatives and actions for LDN.

The new project – as well as the outcomes of COP16 – confirm the power and promise of the Drynet network. Thanks to our collective efforts, civil society voices, especially those of organisations working directly with local groups who are directly impacted by land degradation, desertification and drought, are being heard at the highest levels of global policymaking. In response to our call, policymakers are increasing investment in land restoration initiatives and recognising agroecology as a viable, sustainable land management approach, an important step in the right direction.

All CSO representatives at UNCCD COP16. Photo by IISD

Drynet members strategizing together during the UNCCD COP 16. Photo by CARI

Celebrating the launch of our new three-year project, ‘Strengthening Civil Society Role in Achieving Land Degradation Neutrality’, supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Photo by IUCN

A word from our Executive Director and Supervisory Board Chair

Civil society organisations are the eyes, the ears and the conscience of societies. They are the foundation of a healthy democracy. They address the needs of their communities. They develop and propose innovative solutions. They speak out against societal problems, and hold governments and companies to account. And everywhere around the world, from the Philippines to Nicaragua, from the United States to the Netherlands, civil society – as such – is under pressure.

Both ENDS and partner organisations worldwide faced an extremely challenging context in 2024. Authoritarianism is on the rise. Governments are reneging on their commitments to multilateralism. Here in the Netherlands, under the short-sighted claim of pursuing ‘our own interest’, the Dutch government announced massive cuts in funding for international cooperation, abandoning its long-term role as a world champion of civil society as the cornerstone of democracy and rule of law. More than ever before, in 2024 we found ourselves fighting to preserve hard-won progress on urgent issues like action on climate change, deforestation, corporate accountability and gender equality.

The difficult context underscores the importance of our core strategy: to connect people and voices, across the Netherlands and the world. Together, our voices are stronger. We have learned from partners operating in contexts of decreased civic space. Together we are committed more than ever to bring voices and forces together to hold the line, speak out for justice and solidarity and amplify locally-led solutions. For instance, in response to plans for drastic cuts in international development cooperation, Both ENDS and our allies mobilised partners to send a personal postcard to Dutch decision-makers. The postcards increased awareness on the crucial work of partner organisations worldwide, and the importance of maintaining the Dutch government’s decades-long commitment to development cooperation.

SOLIDARITY AND SPACE FOR CARE CONTRIBUTE TO PERSEVERANCE

In the last few years, we have learned a lot from partners, including about their strategies for sustaining what are often very difficult, long-term struggles for environmental and social justice. Many communities are defending their human rights and fighting to protect ecosystems that are threatened by massive infrastructure or fossil fuel projects. They’re often up against very powerful actors, including international financial institutions, multinational corporations and authoritarian regimes.

Partners have told us time and again that international solidarity support and holding our own (public) institutions to account is a vital strategy for ensuring they can persevere in these profoundly unfair fights. In March, partners from Mozambique, Indonesia and the Philippines joined us in the Hague to meet with Dutch policymakers, including members of Parliament, to discuss human rights violations and environmental destruction in international dredging projects, especially those insured by the Dutch state through its Export Credit Agency (ECA), Atradius DSB. During their visit, we launched Dredging destruction, a new report co-authored by Both ENDS with six partners. The report demonstrates how Atradius DSB has repeatedly failed to prevent and mitigate the adverse impacts of the Dutch dredging sector, and underscores the urgent need to align Dutch policy with international obligations on responsible business conduct, and the protection and promotion of human rights, biodiversity and sustainable development. For instance in Mozambique, where Atradius DSB supports dredging activities in the Cabo Delgado LNG project, and where forced displacement of hundreds of families took place, marine and coastal ecosystems were severely impacted, and where gas explorations fuelled a violent conflict. While we’re still miles from where we need to be, our collective efforts have made an impact. In 2024, we managed to increase public and government scrutiny of Atradius DSB’s policies. It was a good sign that Atradius DSB was one of the few financiers in the Mozambican LNG project to hold off a reconfirmation of their support. A small, but important step.

We have also learned from partners about the importance of creating space and time for healing and care. In the face of difficult struggles, restorative activities that foster collective and individual well-being are crucial. In Brazil, women environmental human rights defenders have been fighting for more than a decade to protect their communities and territory from destructive dredging around the Port of Suape. With support from Both ENDS, the women – many of whom have lost their fishing grounds and livelihoods – have set up community kitchens. The kitchens provide a safe space for the women to share their personal struggles, support each other, and engage in collective care activities, including meetings to exchange experiences, leisure activities and cultural exchange.

Like the women in Brazil, many partners are at the same time resisting harm and fostering healing. Even in the most difficult of circumstances, they are restoring themselves and the fragile ecosystems on which they depend. In the Sahel, against a backdrop of climate change, violence and instability, communities are achieving remarkable results by nurturing regeneration of native flora. They are playing a role that civil society organisations are uniquely suited to perform: effectively demonstrating that another future is possible and showing how we can get there. We are delighted that the ‘Communities Regreen the Sahel’ programme attracted new support in 2024. Together with partners, we are excited to build on the groundwork laid and pursue new work aimed at fostering resilient food systems.

A ROBUST AND EFFECTIVE ORGANISATION

The year 2024 marked a successful transition to a new governance system and new leadership of Both ENDS. To better reflect our actual practice, we formally transitioned to a Supervisory Board structure. Moreover, not only did we take up our new roles as Chair of the Supervisory Board (Leida) and Executive Director (Karin), many Both ENDS colleagues assumed new leadership roles as well. As part of our self-organised structure, every few years staff members have the opportunity to take up leadership of a team. The approach mirrors Both ENDS’s vision of the world, putting our commitment to ‘sharing power’ into practice across the organisation. Our aim is to stimulate ownership and personal growth, and ensure that decision-making power is not confined to a limited number of individuals, but rather shared across the organisation. We are convinced that Both ENDS is a more robust and effective organisation as a result.

Building trust and strong relationships. Listening and learning together. Collaborating in relationships of equality. This is our recipe for success, in our work with partners, as well as allies and colleagues. It is also the recipe we used to develop a new five-year strategy, a highly participatory and lively process. First, we gathered input from partners, staff and diverse experts in the field, who shared their perspectives about the current and future context. Then in March, we were delighted to convene a diverse group of partner representatives from around the globe for an intense three-day strategy meeting at the Both ENDS office in Utrecht. In session after session, Both ENDS staff went into listening-mode, gathering the insights and input of partners on a whole range of strategic questions.

TRUST AND HOPE

What we heard during the partner meeting confirmed the importance of the core of our work: to act in solidarity with partners, and support their efforts and struggles for environmental justice. In response to the needs of partners and the increasingly difficult context we face, the new strategy builds on what we are already doing, while sharpening our focus and deepening our approach. Going forward, we aim to ensure that the global environmental justice movement is strong and connected; that environmentally-just practices and processes are widely recognised and more common; and that environmental injustice is countered, and harm is addressed and healed.

In the strategy meeting, we also heard from partners that the way we support them is crucial. Partners affirmed the value of Both ENDS’s commitment to relationships based on integrity, equality and trust, where we recognise each other’s expertise, actively learn together and cooperate toward shared goals. In our new strategy, ‘Examination of Power’ will be a continual process to ensure that we stay attentive to our power and use it well.

On the final evening of the March strategy meeting, we threw open the office doors and celebrated our collective work with a festive, full room of partners and special guests. Despite the many challenges ahead, despite increasing repression and injustice everywhere around the world, we aim to preserve the hopeful mood of that wonderful evening. We are strongly committed to and confident about our strategy to strengthen civil society as the driving force to address the current crises and guide environmental justice. We are succeeding in garnering the support of new donors, including philanthropic foundations (Fondation Chanel and re:arc institute) and bilateral donors (the Dutch Enterprise Agency, UK FCDO and Irish Aid). As we write this, we already see the counterpower growing. From Kenya to Canada, Argentina to the Netherlands, people are taking to the streets to safeguard democracy, demand environmental and social justice, and insist on evidence-based policymaking. We have an uphill battle ahead. But arm in arm with partners and allies worldwide, we are ready for the journey.

Karin van Boxtel, Executive Director

Leida Rijnhout, Chair of the Supervisory Board

Karin van Boxtel, Executive Director

Leida Rijnhout, Chair of the Supervisory Board

Both ENDS supports movements that are transforming power relations so that people everywhere can influence and share in the benefits of political and economic processes. In order to effectively create a sustainable, fair and inclusive world, we know that it’s crucial to analyse power – to examine who holds what kind of power and how they use it – and to work to recalibrate power as needed. We recognise that power – including its positive forms, such as the ‘power with’ and ‘power to’ bring about social change – is a crucial factor in the world around us, as well as in our own relationships, especially with partners.

Both ENDS is committed to working with partners in relationships based on equality and trust, where we recognise each other’s expertise, actively learn together and cooperate toward shared goals. In line with these principles, we have long advocated for funding mechanisms, like small grants funds, that shift decision-making power to the local groups and communities they aim support. Thankfully, there are signs of progress: the topic of ‘shifting power’ has risen higher on the agenda of the development cooperation and global philanthropy sectors. Appreciation of the need to move away from top-down decision-making, where resources and decision-making power lie in the hands of donors from the Global North, is slowly gaining traction.

Co-designed by partners

Both ENDS has always strived to be an equitable partner, but our discussions about power prompted us to examine our own assumptions, particularly the assumption that channeling an increasing amount of funding to partners does not affect our relationships with them. It is within this context that we embarked on an ‘Examination of Power’ process in 2023. The main purpose of the process was to better understand how Both ENDS holds power and how partners experience equity and power in their relationship with Both ENDS, as well as to learn how we can better share power towards fair and equitable partnerships.

The process was led by a team of independent consultants and a randomly selected, diverse group of six willing partners from the Global South who co-designed the process and participated in multiple meetings to share their perspectives on power as it relates to Both ENDS and their relationship. Additional input came from a detailed anonymous survey, which was made available in 5 languages and completed by 82 partners. The results of the survey were analysed by the consultants and the six partners. The partners were subsequently joined by a team of four Both ENDS staff members to discuss the overall findings and recommendations.

Insights and recommendations

The ‘Examination of Power’ process generated a treasure of useful insights. We learned that a majority of partners see Both ENDS first and foremost as an international mission-aligned advocacy partner, and not only as a funder/donor. Our long-term relationships with partners are valued, with 80% of the partners feeling supported by Both ENDS, with high levels of mutual trust, and direct, clear and open communication. Partners told us that their relationship with Both ENDS increases the impact of their advocacy, access to funding, increasing their international network, alliance building and capacity strengthening. Partners value Both ENDS for showing understanding, flexibility, and trust, and for giving them the space to ask questions and voice their opinions.

Partners also provided recommendations for improvement, including the suggestion for Both ENDS to establish and facilitate more connections by making more and better use of its relationships and access to international advocacy spaces and funding. Partners also asked that we communicate better and more regularly about the work of Both ENDS and other partners, as well as about decision-making, including in relation to donors and in the use of funds. Other suggestions included improvements to the administration of funding, such as sharing power by co-creating rules and principles, and engaging in mutual evaluation.

The next step in the ‘Examination of Power’ process will be to develop a plan of action to address these recommendations, and to communicate back to partners about the whole process. We also intend to share information about the process with external parties, including donors, as inspiration for conducting an examination of their own.

Examination of power is a continual process for Both ENDS, also within the organisation. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion processes, which have included regular workshops on relevant issues, create space for important, and sometimes uncomfortable, conversations and learning. Topics have included unconscious bias, integrity, and addressing undesirable behaviour. Our work is not finished. Both ENDS is committed to continue learning how to hold, share, and transform power.

Both ENDS supports movements that are transforming power relations so that people everywhere can influence and share in the benefits of political and economic processes. This image was taken at the first-ever “Encuentro Latinoamericano de Defensoras Ambientales para la Acción Climática”, supported by Both ENDS. Photo by Fundación Plurales

“Co-designed by partners” also accounts for our organisational strategy. Every 5 years we invite a group of partners to our Partner Meeting to give input to our new strategy.

Water is an essential element for sustaining all life on earth. It is essential for our bodies, for the food we grow, for the diverse organisms and rich ecosystems that make up our precious planet. But that’s not all. Water also has significant social, cultural, Indigenous, spiritual and natural values: water plays an important role in many spiritual practices, and many religions consider a particular source or body of water to be sacred. Yet in many places around the world, water sources are being irresponsibly exploited and polluted for the financial gain of a few. All too often, power and money determine the flow of water, including who has access to it, how it can be used, when, and how much.

Since its founding, Both ENDS has worked with partners to promote the meaningful and long-term participation of communities in sharing and caring for water. Among other things, Both ENDS contributed to the development and documentation of the ‘Negotiated Approach to Inclusive Water Governance’, a methodology based on the concrete experiences of several partners. The approach emphasises the importance of strengthening local capacities of local communities to engage in meaningful negotiations with policymakers and claim their rightful role in water governance.

Participatory process

Preparations for the 2023 UN Water Conference – the first to be held in nearly 50 years – provided the perfect opportunity for Both ENDS and partners to take this work a step further by developing a comprehensive, shared vision of inclusive water governance. Together with the international water knowledge institute IHE-Delft, Both ENDS convened a diverse group of some 40 environmental justice advocates. The collaboration drew experts from both civil society and academia, with experience in different water ecosystems – from rivers and wetlands to drylands and coastal zones – as well as different social and political contexts. In four online roundtables held over the course of several months, participants discussed the key principles, practices and policies that make up inclusive water governance, as well as the root causes, challenges and barriers that stand in the way of realising it. Participants shared their struggles and their solutions.

The resulting Transformative Water Pact, co-authored by 40 organisations and individuals worldwide, describes ten principles that concern the root causes of the current water crisis, the diverse values of water, and its governance as a commons. The Pact acknowledges that contemporary water crises are shaped by unequal power relations and injustices, which result in an unequal distribution of risks and benefits associated with water, to the detriment of marginalised groups. It underscores water as a human right and as a commons, in which communities play key roles as custodians of knowledge in caring for water, not only for its value in sustaining life and ecosystems, but also for its diverse cultural and spiritual values.

A key component of the Transformative Water Pact is the ‘Framework for Action’, which fleshes out the action needed to turn the principles of Transformative Water Governance into practice. The need for safe civic space, which allows citizens to freely speak out and mobilise, is considered as a precondition for socially just decision-making through responsive public institutions. The Transformative Water Pact also highlights the need to strengthen capacities of community-led water management organisations based on their needs and priorities, as well as the importance to learn from indigenous and traditional knowledge systems and practice that foreground common well-being and the intrinsic value of nature. The Transformative Water Pact was launched with a dedicated website and is available in eight languages.

Dialogue at the UN Water conference

The Transformative Water Pact served as the starting point for a dialogue at an online side-event aspart of the UN Water Conference, co-organised by the government of Colombia with Both ENDS, IHE Delft, the Latin-America based network Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA). Specific attention was given to the ways in which Indigenous, ethnic and bio-cultural approaches can be used to create stronger synergies between communities and formal institutions within the context of water governance. Speakers included staff of Both ENDS, the Director of Water Resource Management of the Ministry of the Environment of Colombia, and representatives from AIDA, the Millennium Community Development Initiative, in Kenya – partners of Both ENDS and co-authors of the Transformative Water Pact. Some 200 people attended the online side-event. The international support for the Transformative Water Pact has made it a valuable tool for advocacy.

Spotlighting partners’ practices of Transformative Water Governance

Transformative Water Governance is not just a vision for the future. There are already inspiring examples of it here and now, which inspired the principles reflected in the Pact. A key aim of Both ENDS is to support, strengthen, make space for and spread the wide range of transformative practices that are being implemented effectively around the world right now. Both ENDS raises awareness about existing practices and advocates for policies and funding to support them.

A policy briefing and the #WeWomenAreWater campaign, co-organised by Both ENDS as part of the GAGGA Alliance around the UN Water Conference, highlighted the leadership and crucial role of women and girls from local and Indigenous communities in the sustainable use and protection of water resources and in ensuring water security for all, as well as the need to support them. The GAGGA Alliance, in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also organised sessions at the UN Water Conference, including the side-event ‘Making finance for gender-just water and climate solutions a reality!’, co-hosted by the Government of Chile, and Women Engage in a Common Future (WECF). The event was designed to influence other stakeholders to commit to support, finance, and promote locally rooted, gender-just climate and water solutions within the Water Action Agenda and featured inspiring examples of solutions presented by Both ENDS partners.

World of Water, a special report published around the Conference, described Both ENDS’ long-standing work for water justice and community-led water management, and featured the work of several partners, among them Millennium Community Development Initiatives (MCDI), in Kenya. MCDI’s work with the Athi River Community Network (ARCN) reflects the principles of Transformative Water Governance. MCDI supports communities in setting up or joining existing Water Resource Users Associations (WRUAs). Through the associations, local water users determine together how the water in their sub-basin is to be allocated and used. MCDI plays a facilitating and connecting role – supporting the various WRUAs in the Athi River watershed to govern effectively, and providing practical assistance to communities to stand up for their right to water.

MCDI’s role echoes that of Both ENDS: connecting people for change. Both ENDS has helped to connect MCDI and IHE Delft, through the involvement of both organisations in the Transformative Water Pact process. The result is an exciting new collaboration: MCDI, with technical and financial support from IHE Delft and Both ENDS, has developed an action research project to map distribution of water across the Athi River basin. The research will provide crucial information for the Athi River Community Network to strengthen their efforts to claim their water rights.

The Transformative Water Pact describes ten principles that concern the root causes of the current water crisis, the diverse values of water, and its governance as a commons

Community meeting in the Athi River watershed, organised by MCDI. Photo by MCDI

Both ENDS has long urged governments to stop supporting fossil fuel projects. In addition to causing climate change, such projects are often linked to severe social and environmental impacts for local communities in the Global South. The success of our efforts – together with climate justice movements worldwide – is finally apparent. Although the pace continues to be too slow, there’s no doubt about it: an energy transition is now underway. At the 2023 UN climate talks, in December, governments heralded the ‘beginning of the end’ of the fossil fuel era. The world is shifting toward an energy system based on renewable sources like wind and solar.

Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that such a shift will translate to a more just and equitable energy system – a key component of the larger system change we know is needed to ensure that human rights are respected, gender justice is realised, and the environment is nurtured and protected, both now and in the future. In our effort to change the system and realise this vision, Both ENDS focuses particular attention on public financial flows and public institutions, including Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), government-backed agencies that insure domestic businesses against payment risks for projects abroad.

Lithium mining

In 2023, we teamed up with the Latin American network Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) to explore the case of lithium mining in Argentina and the role of ECAs. Demand for lithium, a key ingredient in batteries, has skyrocketed in recent years, largely due to the increased production of electric vehicles. Argentina, which is home to some 20 per cent of the world’s lithium deposits, plans to ramp up lithium extraction. More than 40 lithium projects are currently in the pipeline.

The negative impacts of such projects, however, are already clear. Lithium extraction, which is taking place in the valuable and sensitive ecosystems of Argentina’s arid high Andes, consumes enormous amounts of water, posing a major threat to the area’s fragile water systems and water quality. The rights of Indigenous communities, in whose territory the projects are located, are being violated, including their right to access information about the mining projects and to self-determination, enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The role of export credit agencies

In the subsequent report, The foreign financiers of Argentina’s lithium rush: Export credit agencies’ support for lithium mining, we made the crucial connection between these issues and public financial support provided through Export Credit Agencies (ECAs). Our research revealed that ECAs from Asia, Europe, and North America are increasingly active in lithium projects in Argentina. Meanwhile, as research for the report was underway, the European Union pushed through in record time a new Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), aimed at promoting EU access to lithium and other ‘transition’ metals and minerals used in renewable technology, such as nickel and cobalt. The role of Export Credit Agencies in supporting critical raw materials supply chains abroad was specifically mentioned in the new law, paving the way for more involvement of ECAs in the future.

Drawing on decades of experience with the shortcomings of ECA policies – based on countless cases of human rights and environmental violations in diverse ECA-supported projects – we signalled the alarm. The report called on governments to avoid making the mistakes of the past and, instead, design a new public financial instrument to advance a just and equitable energy transition that respects the rights of local communities and the limits of nature, and builds an energy system that uses a democratic, decentralised, and participatory approach. Among other recommendations in the report, we highlighted the importance of reducing energy and material consumption, starting in the EU, and to fundamentally rethink mobility patterns.

Wisdom, vision and justice

Outreach activities amplified the report’s message. Some 50 participants joined a webinar organised by Both ENDS, in collaboration with Wetlands International Europe and the EU Raw Materials Coalition, on the issue of raw materials extraction in vulnerable areas. FARN shared the case of lithium extraction in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile – which together form the so-called Lithium Triangle – highlighting the problems of water shortages, land dispossession and displacement of Indigenous communities, and the impacts on their livelihoods and food sovereignty.

We also brought these issues to the attention of members of the ECA Watch coalition, many of whom have focused on the issue of fossil fuel divestment. A presentation of the report helped put the threat of an unjust energy transition on the coalition’s agenda. Similarly, an opinion piece in Dutch newspaper NRC, raised awareness among the broader Dutch public about what electric cars mean for Indigenous communities in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, and made the case for few cars, smaller cars, more shared cars and, above all, more public transport. In response to the article, one NRC reader asked: ‘Why was this alarming message not included in bold letters on the front page? … When the first oil was discovered … and then the car was designed, … people had no idea where it would lead. But now we know better.… I hope for wisdom, vision and… justice.’

Lithium mine in Argentina. Demand for lithium, a key ingredient in batteries, has skyrocketed in recent years. Photo by Susi Maresca on Minga

Lithium extraction, which is taking place in the valuable and sensitive ecosystems of Argentina’s arid high Andes, consumes enormous amounts of water, posing a major threat to the area’s fragile water systems and water quality. Photo by Susi Maresca on Minga

Both ENDS is dedicated to supporting civil society organisations (CSOs) as they tackle social and environmental injustice and inequality, and bring about a better world. We work to ensure that civil society can safely operate and has the decision-making power, resources and capacities to be effective. By connecting a diversity of actors – from the grassroots to the global level – we aim to maximize the power and effectiveness of collective action. It’s a crucial strategy in the current context of extreme corporate power, inequality and growing repression worldwide, which especially impacts women and girls from Indigenous and other marginalised communities.

As part of the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), Both ENDS has helped strengthen communities and organisations across Asia that share a common problem: mining. The Women in Action on Mining in Asia (WAMA) network grew out of a meeting in 2016 of GAGGA partners from Asia. WAMA includes both environmental justice organisations and women’s funds, and is coordinated by the Asia-based network Non-Timber Forest Products–Exchange Programme (NTFP–EP), Lilak, an Indigenous women’s rights group (Philippines) and the Mongolian women’s fund MONES. Since its founding, WAMA’s annual skillshare – organised with support from Both ENDS – has become an important event, drawing women from mining-affected communities across the region.

Linking and learning across Asia

In 2023, WAMA convened women from ancestral, rural, pastoral and mountain lands and small islands for a five-day ‘Regional Skillshare on Extractivism, Climate Justice and Women’s Natural Resource Rights’, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Among other things, participants discussed the interconnected impacts of mining on women and Indigenous peoples, forests, livestock pastures and water. The skill-share provided an important space for discussion of emerging issues, including the impacts and threats of ‘green extractivism’ – large-scale renewable energy projects and mining of ‘transition minerals’ used in renewable energy technologies. Participants also exchanged good practices and strategies in relation to gender-just climate solutions, including barefoot ecology, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable and climate adaptive livelihoods that are based on the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous women. The skill-share involved women from eight countries across Asia, and brought in new network members from Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Georgia.

In addition to the annual skill-share, WAMA supports members in their local campaigns and actions through peer-to-peer learning and support on key issues. To that end, a delegation of WAMA members took part in a week-long learning exchange in Mongolia in 2023. At the request of Mongolian member Steppes Without Borders, WAMA members from India and the Philippines conducted field visits in the Gobi region of Mongolia. The delegation visited herder communities affected by coal and spar mining. Among other impacts, the communities described the loss of access to grazing areas, depletion of ground water, a drastic reduction in income, exposure to dust and water pollution, and harassment from security guards. Together, Steppes Without Borders and the WAMA delegation identified actions for follow-up, including further collective support to bring more global attention to the herders’ struggle – a perfect reason for holding WAMA’s skillshare in Mongolia in 2024.

From extractivism to gender-just climate action

WAMA, Both ENDS and hundreds of partners in the worldwide GAGGA network are collectively advocating for an end to extractivism and false solutions to the climate crisis, and to mobilise more support and finance for women-led climate action. In a declaration composed at the 2023 skill-share, WAMA called on the UN, governments, international financial institutions and banks to recognise that women are actively protecting life systems, cultures, biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods everywhere around the world, and that they possess the knowledge and wisdom to guide the world in constructive pathways for addressing the global climate crisis.

Under the GAGGA umbrella, Both ENDS, together with Fundo Casa Socioambiental and Non-Timber Forest Products – Exchange Program (NTFP-EP), a coordinating member of WAMA, took the message directly to policymakers at the 2023 UN climate conference as co-organisers of the official side event, ‘Gender-just Climate Policy & Finance: From Barriers to Actionable Solutions’. Representatives of local CBOs and NGOs shared how they implement gender-just climate solutions, the obstacles they face to access finance and meaningfully engage in decision-making processes, and urged decision-makers to channel more climate finance to women-led community-based organisations. The side-event, which attracted nearly 300 online views and reached some 8,000 people on social media, featured an interactive panel with representatives from the Dutch, Canadian and UK governments.

Through network-building, linking and learning, and coordinated advocacy, Both ENDS and the GAGGA network are succeeding in mobilising support for gender-just climate solutions in general, and those of GAGGA partners specifically: in 2023, GAGGA was pleased to receive new grants from Global Affairs Canada Climate Finance Department, Chanel Foundation and Re.arc Institute, to deepen and expand the GAGGA programme.

A delegation of WAMA members took part in a week-long learning exchange in Mongolia. Photo by WAMA

WAMA members from India and the Philippines visited herder communities affected by coal and spar mining. Photo by WAMA