The Wire Staff. (2020, June 14). Unnao: Journalist Who Reported on ‘Sand Mafia’ Killed. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://thewire.in/media/shubham-mani-tripathi-journalist-killed-unnao-sand-mafia (Links to an external site.)

Around the world, journalists expose illegal environmental destruction, and for their efforts are routinely killed and threatened. Recently, in June 2020, an Indian newspaper reporter was shot for exposing illegal sand mining. The reporting he was killed for is similar to other reporting that focuses primarily on indigenous communities and attempts to steal their natural resources. His efforts focused on reporting on the illegal land grabs and he had reported on it on Facebook posts and on online publications. His reporting reportedly exposed the activities of the ‘sand mafia’ and named individuals behind it.

Journalism is necessary to reveal the crimes perpetrated primarily against indigenous natives and the destruction of the environment in general. To see that it is suppressed worldwide due to intimidation as well as the refusal to report on it by large media corporations owned by the elite is unsurprising but nonetheless disappointing. In many Latin American and South Asian countries where the majority of crimes are committed, the large media companies are controlled by the political elite and therefore do not cover environmental justice issues, as they are often the perpetrators, meaning independent journalists report on climate justice, and they put themselves at great risk. These reporters are making sure that the principles of climate justice are being followed and for it are being harmed. Not only is it a moral failing that these brave individuals are not being protected but we are also losing valuable information on corruption and illegal activities that threaten the wellbeing of us all, particularly the most vulnerable. The good news is that through new international associations and the internet, journalists are free to report on environmental injustices independently and can broadcast their reporting to a larger audience. Protective organizations and funding have helped benefit independent and local journalists, but they still face monumental opposition from the elite and criminal syndicates. Environmental science tells us not only that we must research our own environmental impact, but that freedom of speech and press is essential to doing so. Ensuring equitable access to and use of environmental resources will only ever be a reality when journalists are free to report freely and safely.

Power Engineering. (2020, October 20). South Korea’s KEPCO cancels foreign coal power investment. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.power-eng.com/2020/10/20/south-koreas-kepco-cancels-foreign-coal-power-investment/ (Links to an external site.)

South Korea’s primarily state-owned power corporation, KEPCO, has decided to cancel or convert two planned coal power plants to natural gas energy production. The news comes after South Korea has adopted very progressive action to stop climate change and transition to net-zero emissions. It has been hailed as a major win by climate activists. The two plants were set to be built in South Africa and the Philipines where they both faced local opposition. KEPCO still plans to develop two coal power plants in Indonesia and Vietnam and continues to face opposition from environmental groups.

It is heartening to see that organized opposition has prevented the building of more coal power plants that continue to contribute to climate change. Perhaps more exciting is that the Korean government has taken steps to make climate change and climate justice central in their policy. It indicates a trend in government priorities to combat climate change and away from deregulation in an attempt to increase short term growth in Korea, but on the international stage more broadly. The consideration of climate change and environmental science in crafting public policy and encouraging development is long overdue, but welcome nonetheless. I believe Korea and the greater world will benefit in the long run from the focus on environmental science. It is especially beneficial to the countries that would be hosting the power plants as they would’ve had to face the direct environmental consequences of the plants as well as the increased air pollution and global warming that affect the international community more broadly, while simultaneously not receiving nearly as much economic benefit as the owners of the facilities in South Korea.

Mexico Daily News. (2020, November 14). Mexico ratifies treaty that protects rights of environmental activists. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/treaty-protects-rights-of-environmental-activists/ (Links to an external site.)

The Mexican Senate ratified a treaty that directly connects human rights protections with environmental protections. The ratification of the treaty will allow environmental activists to stall and stop megaprojects promoted by the current Mexican president’s administration as well as provide tools for activists to do so in the future. Additionally, the treaty grants new protections to activists and journalists facing threats based on their work. Mexico is one of the few Latin American countries that have regulations that specifically defend activists. For the treaty to be effective it will require resources, as well as public and government support.

Mexico has been at the forefront of implementing protections for environmental activists, despite the conflict between them and the government and organized gangs recently. The treaty is incredibly important and very helpful to environmental activists. In the past four years, almost 900 socio-environmental conflicts have occurred with over a dozen murders last year alone. Mexico is attempting to grow its GDP by encouraging development that increases economic activity, tourism, and builds infrastructure, but many of their plans have threatened the environment, are unnecessary and ineffective, and do not provide equitable benefits to everyone in society, especially the natives that occupy much of the land that is being developed. The ratification of the treaty represents a new commitment to environmental justice on behalf of the government, not just an important symbolic victory, but a physical one that will better protect activists and land and make sure commercial developments are beneficial to all communities. The protection of the land for the benefit of all individuals relates to conservationism, an environmental movement grounded in environmental science and equity in receiving the benefits of the environment.

Greenfield, P. (2020, October 23). South African environmental activist shot dead in her home. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/23/south-african-environmental-activist-shot-dead-in-her-home (Links to an external site.)

A South African coal mine was planning an extension near the home of environmental activist Fikile Ntshangase, who, along with other conservationists had been in a legal conflict with the company over their attempts to stop the expansion. Recently, four men entered her home and killed her. The coal company condemned the killing. People near the mine have been threatened and intimidated recently and those that have resisted been relocated from what is their ancestral homeland have been shot at and assaulted. The coal mine threatens to pollute the land and destroy natural habitats.

Violence continues to be perpetrated on environmental activists seeking to defend their homes from damaging economic activity that threatens the health and safety of the land and those that live on it. Despite the threats, organized oppositions continues to stall harmful development. Coal mining, in particular, threatens to pollute the environment and harm those that live near the operations. Developmentment would damage the natural resources of the environment and the byproduct of the actual mining will cause health defects to hurt locals and nearby flora and fauna which locals rely on. In addition, the economic activity the product would generate would be minimal for the immediate community, meaning that while they would suffer the brunt of the damages from the mining, they would not see their due benefit in the form of jobs, energy, or capital. This article also explains how violence prompted by environmental justice has increased 30% over the past year. This article relates to environmental science as it explains how the environment is not treated fairly and the benefits of it, not distributed equitably.

Angelo, M. (2020, November 13). Surrounded by intruders, the last of Brazil’s Piripkura hold out in the Amazon. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/surrounded-by-intruders-the-last-of-brazils-piripkura-hold-out-in-the-amazon/ (Links to an external site.)

Three members of the Piripkura Indigenous Tribe remain and only two in their indigenous territory. The last remaining members are defending their land against illegal land grabbing and clearcutting that is destroying their ancestral homeland. The territory has seen deforestation of 10,000 hectares and has increased rapidly in the last three years. The regional government has encouraged further illegal occupation and harvesting of the indigenous land. The existence of the protected reserve is dependent on the lives of the two remaining members, and should they die before the September 2021 protected land renewal date, it will cease to exist.

The holding out of the last remaining tribesmen is heroic. Having survived a massacre, faced government oppression and negligence, and standing their ground to protect their land from criminals who attempt to destroy it is a difficult task. However, it is disheartening to see a tribe on the verge of extinction facing such massive opposition that seeks to steal their ancestral homeland. I can’t help but feel that no matter how valiant their efforts, they will eventually die off, and their tribe will go extinct, and their land will be destroyed by illegal logging as well as government encouragement of those illegal activities, if not outright legalization. The national and regional Brazilian governments have failed to protect natives and their land, clearly falling short of their duty to ensure the protection of and access to native lands for indigenous tribes, instead, treating them as second class citizens on their own land. Maintaining ecosystems is a vital aspect of environmental science and the destruction of native protected land is the subversion of that. It is a great injustice to continually attempt to remove individuals from their land and destroy it in the process, and the government is failing their commitment to fair and equitable environmental justice on behalf of the indigenous.