First, some good news! Thanks in no small part to shareholder advocacy efforts, Talisman Energy and ConocoPhillips announced plans this fall to withdraw from key oil blocks in the Peruvian Amazon. And in the historic Chevron lawsuit, the Ecuadorian plaintiffs have launched a global enforcement strategy, which is already making strides in Argentina. Meanwhile, shareholders are keeping up pressure on the company over its $19 billion liability (see co-filing opportunities below).
But threats to the Amazon and its people still abound. In Brazil, the destructive Belo Monte dam project is forging ahead despite local and international resistance, and further opens up opportunities for the mining industry (see Belo Sun Mining Corporation) to wreak havoc in indigenous and riverbank community lands. And in the western Amazon, Ecuador and Peru are moving forward with new oil and mining rounds despite massive indigenous opposition.
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