Kenya: major carbon credit project halted over land rights abuses | Weekly Update: 5 Feb
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
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Kenya: Court finds carbon offsetting project used by major companies violated Indigenous land rights
Survival International, Scoop World, Mongabay
In a landmark ruling, a Kenyan court has halted a flagship carbon offset project used by major companies including Meta, Netflix and British Airways. The ruling finds that two of the biggest conservancies set up by the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) were established unconstitutionally, without the consent of local Indigenous communities.
The decision, issued by the Environment and Land Court of Isiolo County, ordered the conservancies to shut down their operations effective immediately. The court also ordered that the heavily-armed NRT rangers be prohibited from operating in Merti sub-county, in which the two conservancies, Biliqo Bulesa and Cherab, are located.
The ruling marks a significant win for 165 residents from the two conservancies, who filed the petition in 2021.
In response, Indigenous rights NGO Survival International has called on the NRT’s Western donors including the EU, France and the United States Agency for International Development to stop funding the organisation, and for carbon credit verification body Verra to conduct a review of the project.
The NRT has previously denied allegations of land grabbing and serious human rights abuses against Indigenous Peoples within its conservancies.
FROM US
Heidi Hautala & Phil Bloomer, Reuters
NRGI, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, SIRGE Coalition, WWF
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BUSINESS & HUMAN RIGHTS IN FOCUS?
BRAND DEMANDS HIT TEXTILE WORKERS:
Cost-cutting demands from global brands are having a profound impact on the textile industry. Türkiye’s textile industry is in crisis as inflation and rising wages push manufacturers - at the behest of European clothing brands - to relocate to Egypt, where production costs are lower. In recent years, more than 200 Turkish textile factories have relocated to Egypt, with the sector losing 250,000 jobs in the past two years.
Meanwhile in Egypt, authorities have arrested 26 striking workers from T&C Garments, a Turkish-Egyptian clothing manufacturer supplying global brands. The arrests come as around 6,000 workers at the company’s factories continue a strike demanding higher wages, improved bonuses and better healthcare facilities.
In Indonesia, ongoing factory closures and mass layoffs in the footwear and textile industries are set to continue into 2025 due to declining orders, with thousands expected to lose their jobs.
Find out more about how brand purchasing practices influence labour rights outcomes with our Who Pays For The Crisis? portal.
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EUROPE’S SUSTAINABLE FINANCE & DUE DILIGENCE OMNIBUS:
More than 160 investors managing EUR6.6t (approx. USD6.8t) in assets have urged the European Commission to protect the EU’s sustainable finance framework. The move comes amid concerns that the EU Commission’s upcoming Omnibus package, expected on 26th February, could lead to the ‘wholesale revision’ of key sustainability requirements.
In a joint statement led by The European Sustainable Investment Forum, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), investors caution that reopening these regulations could create legal uncertainty, weaken key sustainability disclosure requirements, and harm investment and competitiveness.
Meanwhile, roundtable consultations convened by the European Commission to discuss ‘simplification’ have been criticised for their corporate-heavy composition and closed-room nature, including by 150+ CSOs reaffirming their opposition to reopening legislation.
Additionally, 240 European researchers, mainly economists, have also issued an open letter warning of the dangers of the Omnibus initiative.
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UNREGULATED TRANSITION MINERAL MINING DRIVES ABUSE:
The global rush for transition minerals is driving human rights abuses, environmental harm and conflict.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, strategic minerals are fuelling the decades-long conflict that has produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Armed groups are expanding control over coltan mining sites, which supply more than 15% of global tantalum production, and generate an estimated USD300,000 per month for the M23 rebel group.
In the Philippines, an Amnesty International report highlights human rights abuses associated with nickel mining, including lack of Indigenous consent, water contamination, deforestation, health issues and harm to local livelihoods.
Meanwhile, a US court has ruled in favour of the Hell’s Kitchen lithium project in the Salton Sea, dismissing concerns that the environmental review did not fully address the project’s effects on water supply and air quality, and that the company developing it, Controlled Thermal Resources, did not consult with local Indigenous communities.
AROUND THE WORLD
INTERNATIONAL
Spotlight:
The Guardian
The individuals were reportedly targeted by spyware linked to Israeli firm Paragon Solutions. WhatsApp stated that it had ‘high confidence’ that the affected users were targeted and ‘possibly compromised’. The company said that the attacks were disrupted in December, but the duration of the surveillance remains unclear, and the locations of the targeted individuals remain undisclosed. WhatsApp has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Paragon and is considering legal action. Paragon Solutions has not responded to requests for comment.
Other news from the region:
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AFRICA
Spotlight:
Initiative for Social and Economic Rights, Bloomberg
The coalition is urging the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to stop funding for-profit hospitals, arguing that they worsen healthcare inequities, after a Bloomberg investigation found that these investments ‘exacerbated a two-tier system’ in which wealthier patients receive top-tier care while low-income patients face ’abusive debt-collection tactics or denial of life-saving care altogether’.
The coalition is demanding that the IFC divest from private healthcare and redirect funds to public health services. The IFC has not responded to the petition.
Other news from the region:
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AMERICAS
Spotlight:
The Toronto Star
领英推荐
Based on interviews with 44 migrant workers, the report highlights how employer-tied visas increase dependency, limit access to fair working conditions, and expose workers to abuse and reprisals. The report finds that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program disproportionately affects workers from the Global South and calls for the abolition of tied visas to allow greater job mobility and protect migrant rights.
Additionally, new research finds that in 2024, the Canadian government issued CAD4.1m (approx. USD2.8m) in penalties to employers violating the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, a 55% increase from 2023.
Other news from the region:
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ASIA & PACIFIC
Spotlight:
Sourcing Journal, Yahoo News
The Garment Labour Union and the Asia Floor Wage Alliance reached an agreement with Sonal Apparel Private Limited Industries, supplier to major brands including Primark, Only & Sons, and The Children’s Place. The settlement follows a case filed in 2022 over unpaid wages during the COVID-19 lockdown, and its success was described as a ‘historic feat’ by those involved.
A spokesperson for BESTSELLER, which owns Only & Sons, welcomed the resolution and said it has ‘remained committed [to] facilitating dialogue and fostering a constructive atmosphere for resolution’. Primark also said that it supported open dialogue alongside its fellow buyers. The Children's Place did not respond to journalists' requests for comment.
Other news from the region:
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EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA
Spotlight:
Politico, Reuters
Germany’s Federal Network Agency (FNA) says it is ‘well prepared’ to counter online interference in the 23 February election, following the completion of a ‘stress test’ by the EU Commission and FNA. This examined whether major social media platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and X, have sufficient safeguards against disinformation. It is the first such stress test for a national election under the EU's Digital Services Act.
Other news from the region:
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MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA
Spotlight:
Israel/OPT: ‘Unprecedented’ & opaque contract granted to US private security firm at Gaza checkpoint
The Guardian
US private security firm UG Solutions has been awarded a contract to deploy nearly 100 special forces veterans at a checkpoint in Gaza. Few details have been provided on the deal, with the company declining to disclose the rules of engagement governing when personnel can open fire.
Critics argue that the arrangement occurs within a troubling context of reliance on private contractors in conflict zones, pointing to the consequences of Blackwater’s involvement in the Middle East, which was marred by serious abuse allegations and lack of accountability.
The UG Solutions email said that its primary mission was ‘internal vehicle checkpoint management and vehicle inspection’, and that their forces would be deployed away from residents.
Other news from the region:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Intergovt. Working Group on binding treaty intersessional consultations to take place on 15-17 April 2025. See the updated 2025 roadmap and methodology for more information.
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