International
Conflict Minerals: Fairphone Achieves Traceable Supply for All Four Conflict Minerals; Your Move, Industry
Jun 20, 2016
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Sustainable Brands
Today, Fairphone announced it is adding conflict-free tungsten from Rwanda into its supply chain. With this achievement, Fairphone has successfully managed to transparently source all…
Afgahnistan: Growing Poppies a Detested Yet Profitable Business for Farmers in Southern Afghanistan
Jun 20, 2016
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Abdul Haleem and Manan Arghand, Xinhua
The conflict-hit Afghanistan reportedly produces around 90 percent of opium poppies, the raw material used in the manufacturing of heroin to the world. The largest…
Myanmar: In Mon State, Expanding Quarries Threaten Farms
Jun 19, 2016
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Phyo Thiha Cho, Myanmar Now
Farmers in the area, which comprises six villages with Bamar, Karen, Pa-O and Mon residents, said that since 2011 authorities had allowed companies to rapidly…
Myanmar: In Mon State, Expanding Quarries Threaten Farms
Jun 19, 2016
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Phyo Thiha Cho, Myanmar Now
Farmers in Mon State, which comprises six villages with Bamar, Karen, Pa-O and Mon residents, said that since 2011 authorities had allowed companies to rapidly…
Uganda: Delay in Harmonising Regional Laws Affecting Mineral Exports - Expert
Jun 18, 2016
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Sandra Janet Birungi, The Monitor
The slow pace at which regional countries are harmonising laws regarding minerals continues to affect exports, the director of democracy and good governance programme at…
Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pakistan to Receive More as Afghanistan Abandons Share in CASA-1,000
Jun 17, 2016
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Zafar Bhutta, Tribune
Pakistan will receive 1,300 megawatts of cheap and clean electricity from Central Asian states, more than the initially planned 1,000MW, as Afghanistan has abandoned its…
Conflict Minerals: EU “Political Understanding” Reached on Conflict Minerals Law
Jun 16, 2016
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ELM Sustainability Partners
The European Commission announced that a “political understanding” was reached on the European conflict minerals law. As we understand it, this means that the relevant…
Conflict Minerals: LIVE EP Press conference Trilogue Negotiations on Conflict Minerals [Video]
Jun 16, 2016
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European Commission
Press conference by Gianni PITTELLA (IT), S&D Chair, and Maria ARENA (S&D, BE)
Conflict Minerals: EP Press Conference by Cecilia Malmström, Member of the EC, on Conflict Minerals [Video]
Jun 16, 2016
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European Commission
On 16 June 2016, Cecilia Malmström, Member of the EC in charge of Trade, together with Bernd Lange, chairman of the Committee on International Trade…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Signs Contract for a Major Dam in Farah Province
Jun 15, 2016
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Khaama Press
The Afghan government signed another contract for the construction of a dam in western Farah province of AFghanistan. The contract for the construction of Dam,…
Ukraine: Vitally Important Resources in the ATO Zone Are Dangerous for Life and Health. Part 3: Soil
Jun 15, 2016
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Environment People Law
EPL continues to follow the latest results of the monitoring of the environment in Eastern Ukraine. Unfortunately, such monitoring is now possible only in the…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds Ready for New Oil Deal with Baghdad If They Get $1 Billion a Month
Jun 15, 2016
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Maher Chmaytelli and Isabel Coles, Reuters
Iraq's Kurds said they are ready to strike an agreement with the central government in Baghdad on a deal to increase oil exports if it…
Conflcit Minerals: European Union Reaches Outline Deal to Stem Flow of Conflict Minerals
Jun 15, 2016
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Barbara Lewis, Reuters
The European Union on Wednesday agreed an outline deal on a law to clean up the commodities supply chain, so importers will have to carry…
DRC: DRC Awards US$660 Million Contract for 240-MW Busanga Hydroelectric Project in Africa
Jun 15, 2016
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Gregory B. Poindexter, HydroWorld
After more than 10 years since signing agreements with companies in China and Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo announced on June 8 that it…
China/Japan/East China Sea: Chinese Spy Ship Enters Japan’s Territorial Waters for Second Time Since End of WWII
Jun 15, 2016
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Ayako Mie, Japan Times
A Chinese navy reconnaissance vessel entered Japanese territorial waters near Kuchinoerabu Island off Kagoshima Prefecture early Wednesday morning — the first time since 2004 that…
South Sudan: Fleeing Famine in Northern South Sudan
Jun 15, 2016
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Henry Wilkins, Al Jazeera
Kanjak is situated in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, a region of South Sudan close to the border with its neighbour Sudan. It has recently entered…
Myanmar: Probe into Gems Fund Leads to Calls for Chair’s Removal
Jun 14, 2016
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Chan Mya Htwe and Hlaing Kyaw Soe, Myanmar Times
The probe into an alleged US$100 million gems fund heist has only become more convoluted with the addition of counter-investigations and infighting within the association…
Myanmar: Kawlin Residents Brace for More Disastrous, Record-High Floods
Jun 14, 2016
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Khin Wine Phyu Phyu, Myanmar Times
Ordinary flooding is inevitable. But what Kawlin expects is record floods. Last July and August, when 12 of the country’s 14 states and regions were…
Myanmar: Tree Planting Changes Life in Ancient Buddhist city of Myanmar
Jun 14, 2016
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Koh Byung-joon, Yonhap News Agency
A South Korean aid group came in with a long-term "tree planting" project whose main objective is to make the land green and enhance the…
Climate Change: Land Grabs Soar, Worsen Land Conflicts and Climate Change: Report
Jun 14, 2016
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teleSUR
Industrial agriculture and financial sectors are hand-in-hand worsening climate change and then profiting from it, with an unprecedented number of land grabs over the last…
DRC: China Firms to Fund Congo Hydro Power Plant to Lift Mining Output
Jun 14, 2016
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Reuters
China's Sinohydro and China Railway Group will finance a $660 million hydroelectric plant in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo which is being built to reduce…
Colombia: Two Hundred Indigenous U'wa Occupy Gas Plant in Colombia
Jun 14, 2016
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Charlie Satow, Intercontinental Cry
Two hundred Indigenous U'wa men, women, and children have occupied Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol's Gibraltar I gas plant south of the Colombia-Venezuela border in…
Iraq: Iraq Says IMF Deal "on Track" as Cabinet Approves Reform Package
Jun 13, 2016
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Maher Chmaytelli and Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters
Iraq has approved measures requested by the International Monetary Fund to unlock loans that should help the country overcome a cash crunch caused by declining…
Myanmar: Over-Extraction, Chinese Slowdown Blamed for Jade Price Slump
Jun 13, 2016
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Kyaw Hsu Mon, The Irrawaddy
With the government’s biannual gem emporium looming at the end of this month, prices for Burmese jade have continued to slide against weakening demand. Industry…
Conflict Minerals: Over 125 Civil Society Actors Call the EU to Tackle Conflict Minerals
Jun 13, 2016
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Amnesty International, Global Witness, and others
"Open letter to the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Member States of the European Union": Minerals are key components…
Côte d’Ivoire: Arbitrary Evictions in Protected Forests
Jun 13, 2016
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Human Rights Watch
Residents of Côte d’Ivoire’s protected forests live in fear of arbitrary evictions and have suffered extortion and physical abuse by forest conservation authorities, Human Rights…
Colombia: The Evolution of Coffee Culture in Colombia’s Coffee Region
Jun 12, 2016
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Erin Donaldson, Colombia Reports
While growing coffee has been a major part of the economy of Pereira and the surrounding coffee region, drinking one of Colombia’s most iconic export…
Colombia: Colombian Government Gives in to Agriculture Subsidies
Jun 10, 2016
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Julian Villabona, PanAm Post
Since May 29, agrarian unemployment in Colombia has become a problem again similar to the spike of 2013. Rural and indigenous community members took to the…
When the State Wilts Away
Jun 9, 2016
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Lois Parshley, Bloomberg Businessweek
In weak nations, environmental stress can tip society into catastrophe. Venezuela was unraveling even before Hugo Chávez died in 2013. The situation has only gotten worse…
Myanmar: New Commission Formed to Investigate Alleged Gems Association Embezzlement
Jun 9, 2016
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Htet Nain Zaw, The Irrawaddy
A new investigation commission will be formed to look into the Myanmar Gems Traders Association’s financial scandal, involving allegations of more than US$100 million that…