{"id":38390,"date":"2024-04-29T17:38:31","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T17:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/29\/environmental-prize-highlights-work-to-keep-fossil-fuels-at-bay\/"},"modified":"2024-04-29T17:38:31","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T17:38:31","slug":"environmental-prize-highlights-work-to-keep-fossil-fuels-at-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/29\/environmental-prize-highlights-work-to-keep-fossil-fuels-at-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental Prize Highlights Work to Keep Fossil Fuels at Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/29\/climate\/29CLI-GOLDMANPRIZE-GRASSROOTS\/29CLI-GOLDMANPRIZE-GRASSROOTS-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Environmental Prize Highlights Work to Keep Fossil Fuels at Bay\" title=\"Environmental Prize Highlights Work to Keep Fossil Fuels at Bay\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">New coal mines continue to open each year, and oil and gas companies are still exploring new parts of the world. But increasingly, people \u2014 especially Indigenous communities \u2014 are saying no to new fossil fuel developments on their land and using courts and legislatures to deliver the message.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In India, protests by Adivasi communities persuaded officials to cancel the auction of land for coal mines in the biodiverse forests of Chhattisgarh State. In South Africa, the Mpondo people stopped the Shell Global company from carrying out seismic surveys for oil and gas off the Wild Coast. In Australia, First Nations people blocked development of a coal mine in Queensland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">These legal victories occurred within the past three years. On Monday, leaders of these and other grass-roots environmental movements, spanning six countries, won the Goldman Environmental Prize.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOne of the things we\u2019ve seen in recent years is that environmental law, protection of natural resources, has become intertwined with human rights law and the law of Indigenous people,\u201d said Michael Sutton, an environmental lawyer and the executive director of the Goldman Environmental Foundation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Forcing these types of cases is the fact that as climate concerns have risen so has exploration for fossil fuels in many places, said Carla Garc\u00eda Zendejas, a lawyer and director of the People, Land &amp; Resources program at the Center for International Environmental Law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWith all the decisions that are being made for climate change, trying to address the climate crisis,\u201d Ms. Garc\u00eda Zendejas said, \u201cit seems that the oil companies are just trying to get every drop of oil out of the ground as soon as possible, before permits and concessions are halted or revoked or stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In most countries, a proposed project to extract natural resources must undergo an environmental review process, she said. And people living in the areas have a legal right to access information about the proposed project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2021, locals in Mpondoland on the Wild Coast of South Africa learned from visiting tourists and guides that a project was underway to conduct seismic surveys for oil and gas off their shore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt was a shock for us to hear that the Department of Minerals and Energy has already given permission for Shell to explore oil and gas,\u201d Nonhle Mbuthuma, a local resident and community organizer, said. \u201cBut the people on the ground were not aware.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She had co-founded a group called the Amadiba Crisis Committee \u2014 originally to fight a proposed titanium mine \u2014 which she quickly mobilized to oppose the seismic surveys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Mbuthuma is one of the winners of this year\u2019s Goldman Environmental Prize, along with Sinegugu Zukulu, a program manager for a local NGO called Sustaining the Wild Coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The region\u2019s coastal waters provide habitat for dolphins, whales and many migratory fish species. Communities in the area depend on fishing and eco-tourism for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen you talk about the ocean to the people of Wild Coast, the ocean is home to us<em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">,\u201d <\/em>Ms. Mbuthuma said. \u201cThe ocean is the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imas.utas.edu.au\/news\/news-items\/whales-stop-singing-and-rock-lobsters-lose-their-balance-how-seismic-surveys-can-harm-marine-life\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Seismic testing can harm wildlife<\/a> \u2014 damaging marine animals\u2019 hearing, disrupting their natural behaviors and causing them to leave affected areas. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmars.2023.1129057\/full\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Studies of smaller invertebrate species<\/a> like lobsters, scallops and zooplankton have found that some species become injured or sick enough to die after exposure to seismic air guns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Both coastal and inland communities in the region mobilized to oppose the project, \u201cspeaking in one voice to say no to oil and gas,\u201d Ms. Mbuthuma said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Mbuthuma and Mr. Zukulu, along with other community members, filed a legal challenge to the project\u2019s environmental approval, arguing that local people hadn\u2019t been properly consulted. In 2022, South Africa\u2019s High Court <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/02\/world\/africa\/south-africa-shell-oil.html\" title=\"\">ruled in their favor<\/a> and rescinded Shell\u2019s permit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Shell did not respond to a request for comment, but the company has appealed the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Mpondo people are concerned not only about direct threats to their livelihoods and about local pollution, but also about global climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels, Mr. Zukulu said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just us in our land, in our little corner,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a global challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Similar local fights are playing out around the world. In quickly developing countries, demand for energy is still rising as more people gain access to electricity and economies grow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In India, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/ember-climate.org\/countries-and-regions\/countries\/india\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">more than 70 percent of electricity<\/a> currently comes from coal, and more than 20 percent of that coal comes from Chhattisgarh State.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For years, India\u2019s central government went back and forth on whether to open the state\u2019s Hasdeo Aranya forest to coal mining or to declare it a \u201cno go\u201d zone. The forest is home to dozens of rare and endangered species, including the Asian elephant. About 15,000 Adivasi people in the region depend on the forest for their traditional ways of life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Hasdeo Aranya also sits on top of one of the country\u2019s largest coal reserves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt represents a very unique microcosm of all the environmental and social justice movements that exist in India,\u201d said Alok Shukla, another winner of this year\u2019s Goldman prize, through a translator. Mr. Shukla helped found the local Save Hasdeo Aranya Resistance Committee, and also convenes an alliance of grass-roots movements in the state called the Save Chhattisgarh Movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With help from Mr. Shukla and other organizers, residents of the region have protested the proposed mines for years, and successfully lobbied for a protected elephant reserve in the forest. In 2020, the government announced a new set of land auctions for potential coal mines, setting off a new wave of protests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Neither India\u2019s Ministry of Coal nor Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In October 2021, 500 villagers went on a 10-day march to the state capital, Raipur. The following spring, women in several villages began a weekslong tree-hugging protest, employing a tactic used to stop deforestation in northern India in the 1970s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That summer, Chhattisgarh\u2019s state legislature adopted a resolution against mining in the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Other winners of this year\u2019s Goldman prize include a lawyer from Spain who won legal rights for Europe\u2019s largest saltwater lagoon; an activist from the United States for work to limit carbon emissions from freight trucks and trains in California; and a journalist from Brazil who traced the beef supply chain back to illegal deforestation, persuading major supermarkets to boycott illegally sourced meat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Australia, Murrawah Maroochy Johnson, a young Indigenous Wirdi woman, won the Goldman prize also for work blocking coal mining on her community\u2019s land. Ms. Maroochy Johnson argued in court that the greenhouse gases released from this mine would violate the human rights of First Nations people across Australia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Shukla hopes that their actions inspire others around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere is a way that local communities can actually resist even the most powerful corporations using just their resolve and peaceful, democratic means,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/29\/climate\/goldman-environmental-prize-winners.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New coal mines continue to open each year, and oil and gas companies are still exploring new parts of the world. But increasingly, people \u2014 especially Indigenous communities \u2014 are saying no to new fossil fuel developments on their land and using courts and legislatures to deliver the message. In India, protests by Adivasi communities [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/29\/climate\/29CLI-GOLDMANPRIZE-GRASSROOTS\/29CLI-GOLDMANPRIZE-GRASSROOTS-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17195,3648,14848,31392,5360,24175,1396],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38390"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38392,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38390\/revisions\/38392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}