There is no changing the fact that the Sahel is very hot, very sunny and very dry. But even as climate change intensifies these challenging conditions, the Sahel need not become a desert. Unsustainable agricultural practices and overgrazing are among the main factors causing land degradation in the Sahel, which is threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Fortunately, organisations like CRESA in Niger – a long-term partner of Both ENDS – have shown that with the right approach, desertification of the Sahel can be reversed.
International trade and investment agreements set the conditions of international investment flows. Although they may make for dull reading, their content is critical and their impact enormous. Many countries are led to believe that signing a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) or international investment agreement will open the door to foreign investment that contributes to economic development and prosperity. But the evidence tells a different story.
Mining often has a huge and devastating impact on the environment, including water, air and forests. It can profoundly affect nearby communities, not only by harming local ecosystems, but also by exacerbating or provoking societal tension. In many places across the globe, women are leading resistance to mining and the ‘extractivist’ model that prioritises short-term profit over environmental sustainability and social equity.
Few people in the coastal fishing communities of northeastern Brazil may know what an export credit agency (ECA) is, but they know better than anyone what the impact of its decisions can look like. As the largest source of public support for the financing of infrastructure projects in developing countries, ECAs play a key role in facilitating global capital flows. On behalf of national governments, ECAs offer insurance, guarantees or credit to domestic companies to cover their financial risks of doing business abroad. Unfortunately, ECAs often underwrite projects that are opposed by locally affected people, and associated with human rights violations and environmental harm. The Brazilian fisherpeople whose livelihoods and way of life were devastated by the Port of Suape expansion project know all too well the story behind ECAs.
Around the globe, civil society organisations are engaged in local initiatives to help people and environments adapt to climate shocks and changes. Women are at the forefront of local efforts to protect and restore ecosystems, increase community resilience and ensure the right of all community members to actively participate in decision-making about the environment.
When it comes to tending the land and securing vitally important income from it, women often play a leading role in their communities. It is usually women who first signal the adverse environmental and health impacts of unsustainable agricultural and forestry practices. They know all too well how the conversion of forests for intensive monocrop and livestock farming leads to the devastating loss of healthy soil, clean air and water.
The La Plata Basin is the largest freshwater wetland in the world, extending into Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Around 160 million people rely on the wetland system as a source of water for consumption and irrigation. Although the basin covers a huge area – about one-fourth of South America’s surface – its jungles, savannahs, grasslands and wetlands have become fragmented islands. Monoculture, ranching, mining and infrastructure projects are among the many threats to the wetland system, its forests and rivers, and the livelihoods of the many people who depend on them.
Take a look at the overview of all of our projects in 2018, including funders and project partners.
Both ENDS takes part in two ‘Dialogue and Dissent’ strategic partnerships (2016-2020) with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Fair, Green and Global (FGG) Alliance
FINANCED BY: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
ALLIANCE PARTNERS: ActionAid Netherlands • Clean Clothes Campaign Netherlands • Friends of the Earth Netherlands • Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Ondernemingen (SOMO, the Netherlands) • Transnational Institute (TNI, the Netherlands)
PROJECT PARTNERS: ACD (Panama) • Amazon Watch (USA) • Blue Planet Initiative (Bangladesh) • CENDEP (Cameroon) • Green Watershed (China) • Ecoton (Indonesia) • ELSAM (Indonesia) • EMG (South Africa) • FECONAU (Peru) • FED (Uganda) • FoLT (Kenya) • Fórum Suape (Brazil) • GLC (Laos) • Grassroots Malaysia • IGJ (Indonesia) • Institut Dayakologi (Indonesia) • Kalikasan (Philippines) • KNTI (Indonesia) • Lumière Synergie pour le Développement (LSD, Senegal) • Movimiento de 10 Abril (Panama) • NTFP-EP (Malaysia) • POPOL NA (Nicaragua) • Riak Bumi (Indonesia) • RRDC (Nigeria) • SEATINI (Uganda) • WALHI Sulawesi Selatan (Indonesia) • Zambia Institute for Environmental Management (ZIEM) • Zambia Land Alliance (ZLA)
Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA)
FINANCED BY: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
ALLIANCE PARTNERS: Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres (FCAM, Nicaragua) • Mama Cash (the Netherlands)
PROJECT PARTNERS: ADECRU (Mozambique) • AIDA (Mexico) • AIPP (Thailand) • Aksi (Indonesia) • CCIMCAT (Bolivia) • CEE Bankwatch (Czech Republic) • Centro Terra Viva (Mozambique) • Colectivo CASA (Bolivia) • Development Institute (Ghana) • Economic Justice Network (South Africa) • Ecoton (Indonesia) • ELSAM (Indonesia) • Fondo Tierra Viva (Central America) • Fundo CASA (Brazil) • Global Greengrants Fund (USA) • Green Alternative (Georgia) • IAFN (Costa Rica) • IPACC (Africa) • Kalimantan Women’s Alliance (Indonesia) • Keystone (India) • Les Compagnons Ruraux (Togo) • Lumière Synergie pour le Développement (LSD, Senegal) • Madre Selva (Guatemala) • NAPE (Uganda) • NOGAMU (Uganda) • Nature Kenya • NGO Forum on ADB (Philippines) • NTFP-EP (Philippines) • Omadeza (Mali) • ONG APIL (Burkina Faso) • OT Watch (Mongolia) • Paz Integración y Desarrollo (Bolivia) • Perkumpulan Pancur Kasih (PKK, Indonesia) • Plataforma Sauce (Paraguay) • Plurales (Argentina) • POPOL NA (Nicaragua) • Prakriti (Nepal) • Puente Entre Culturas (Bolivia) • Sengwer (Kenya) • Source International (Italy) • SPNKK (Philippines) • Ulu Foundation (USA) • Unnayan Onneshan (Bangladesh) • Utz-Che (Guatemala) • WATED (Tanzania) • WOMIN (South Africa) • Yanling Zhu (China) • Zambia Land Alliance (ZLA)
Other projects and programmes:
AfriAlliance
FINANCED BY: UNESCO-IHE PROJECT PARTNER: Development Institute (Ghana)
Aligning European Pension Divestment and Finance
FINANCED BY: KR Foundation
All Eyes on the Amazon
FINANCED BY: Nationale Postcode Loterij PROJECT PARTNERS: Article 19 (United Kingdom) • COICA (Ecuador) • Digital Democracy (USA) • Global Forest Watch (USA) • Greenpeace Netherlands • Hivos (the Netherlands) • International Institute of Social Studies (ISS, the Netherlands) • Interpol (France) • University of Maryland (USA) • Witness (USA)
Communities regreen the Sahel
FINANCED BY: DOB Ecology PROJECT PARTNERS: CRESA (Niger) • IED Afrique (Senegal) • SPONG (Burkina Faso)
Community Tiger Conservation
FINANCED BY: private funder
DivestInvest Familiefondsen en Goede Doelen
FINANCED BY: Stichting DOEN
Fish4Food
FINANCED BY: University of Amsterdam
International Financial Institutions Program
FINANCED BY: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
ISQAPER – Interactive Soil Quality Assessment in Europe and China for Agricultural Productivity and Environmental Resilience
FINANCED BY: The EU’s Horizon 2020 Programme for research & innovation PROJECT PARTNERS: Wageningen UR (The Netherlands) and many universities, private sector and think expertise organisations from Europe and China
Kick starting CSOs on Paris Proofing ECAs
FINANCED BY: Wallace Global Fund
Making European Export Credit Agencies accountable
FINANCED BY: Foundation Open Society Institute PROJECT PARTNERS: CEE Bankwatch (Czech Republic) • ECA Watch (international) • The Big Shift Global (international)
New corporate social responsibility policies for ECAs to phase out fossil fuel finance
FINANCED BY: KR Foundation PROJECT PARTNERS: CAN-Europe (Belgium) • Fórum Suape Espaço Socioambiental (Brazil) • ECA Watch (international) • Oil Change International (USA)
Participation is Power: Ensuring women’s access to climate finance
FINANCED BY: Wallace Global Fund PROJECT PARTNER: Women’s Environment & Development Organization (WEDO, USA)
Rich Forests
FINANCED BY: Stichting Otterfonds
Shifting Grounds
FINANCED BY: NWO-UDW PROJECT PARTNERS: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) • Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) • JJS (Bangladesh) • Management Development Institute (MDI) • SaciWaters (India) • The Researcher (India)
Strengthening Grassroots Pension Fund Divest Invest Campaigns
FINANCED BY: Wallace Global Fund
Support for Asian NGOs
FINANCED BY: Non-disclosable
Support for Indian CSOs
FINANCED BY: Non-disclosable
Towards resilient agriculture systems and biodiversity conservation; Non-timber forest products for sustainable income in Southern Mali
FINANCED BY: Anton Jurgens Fonds PROJECT PARTNERS: Omadeza (Mali) • FairMatch Support (Burkina Faso)
Wetlands without Borders
FINANCED BY: DOB Ecology PROJECT PARTNERS: Casa Río Arte y Ambiente (Argentina) • CAUCE (Argentina) • CODES (Paraguay) • Escola de Ativismo (Brazil) • FARN (Argentina) • FONASC (Brazil) • Instituto Caracol (Brazil) • Instituto GAIA (Brazil) • Probioma (Bolivia) • Rede Pantaneiras (Brazil) • Sobrevivencia (Paraguay) • Sociedade Fé e Vida (Brazil) • Taller Ecologista (Argentina)
Both ENDS manages two small grants funds:
The Koningsschool Fund
FINANCED BY: Stichting School van Z.M. Koning Willem III en H.M. Koningin Emma der Nederlanden
Young Environmental Leadership
FINANCED BY: Stichting Joke Waller-Hunter Initiative