Newsletter articles

DTE's quarterly newsletter provides information on ecological justice in Indonesia.

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DTE publications

Rio Tinto under fire from all sides

Down to Earth No.80-81, June 2009

A report from Rio Tinto's AGM in London, April 2009, attended by DTE.

This hasn't been a very good year for Rio Tinto. The UK-based mining multinational is facing growing criticism, not just from established critics of the company's operations in places like Grasberg, the huge copper and gold mine in West Papua.

RSPO certification - sustainability for whom?

Down to Earth No.80-81, June 2009

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has started awarding certificates to palm oil producers, even though some of those companies are involved in unresolved conflicts with local communities.

Ecological justice in Indonesia: in whose hands for the next five years?

Down to Earth No.80-81, June 2009

In April the Indonesian people elected their paliamentary representatives. Partai Demokrat, the party of incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), secured the strongest position with around 20% of the seats. On 8th July are the elections for president and vice-president, with three pairs of candidates in the running: SBY and Boediono, Megawati and Prabowo, and Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto. What are the prospects for ecological justice?

Indigenous peoples and climate change - the campaign for rights and representation continues

Down to Earth No.80-81, June 2009

Indigenous peoples are continuing to press for their rights to be respected in all climate change initiatives which affect them. They also want recognition for the role they have played in using the earth's resources sustainably and living low-carbon or carbon-neutral lifestyles.

Climate change developments in Indonesia

Down to Earth No.80-81, June 2009

While this year's parliamentary and presidential elections have been dominating political life in Indonesia in recent months, the issue of climate change took a low priority on the competing parties' manifestos. Meanwhile, the government's much-criticised regulation on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) has been issued. Twenty projects are now underway in the country.

The pressure for REDD

Down to Earth No.79, November 2008

International pressure to get pilot schemes for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) up and running between now and the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 could mean that crucial issues - including land and resource rights in forests - are sidestepped.

Why the pressure for REDD? Land use change and forestry are estimated to account for around 20% of annual carbon emissions, second only to the energy sector.

Indigenous-owned forests felled for oil palm in Keerom

Down to Earth No 78 August 2008

Plans to push ahead with oil palm expansion in Papua have run into opposition from local people.