Public Statements

Le 26 et 27 mai 2020 ont lieu les assemblées générales des groupes Socfin et Bolloré. Socfin, détenu à 39,7%1 par le Groupe Bolloré, contrôle 400 000 ha de concessions de palmiers à huile et d’hévéa dans dix pays d’Afrique et d’Asie. Alors qu’au Luxembourg et à Paris, les actionnaires se réunissent à huis clos pour se partager les dividendes, des milliers de personnes travaillant dans ces plantations sont touchées directement par la crise provoquée par le Covid-19. Les communautés locales dénoncent licenciements, congés sans soldes et le manque de mesures adéquates pour faire face au virus.

On 26 and 27 May 2020, the Socfin and Bolloré groups hold their annual general meetings. Socfin, which is 39,7% owned by Bolloré, controls 400,000 ha of oil palm and rubber tree concessions in ten African and Asian countries.1 While in Luxembourg and Paris, shareholders are meeting behind closed doors to share dividends, thousands of people in Africa and Asia working in these plantations are directly exposed to crisis provoked by the Covid-19 epidemic. Local communities denounce dismissals, unpaid leave and lack of adequate measures to face the virus.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposes an economic system unable to meet the needs of people and planet. Our only solution to address this global crisis, occurring amid a devastating climate crisis, is to join together and build a more just, resilient, and sustainable world. As members and allies of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice we are making an initial set of demands of governments as they respond to the pandemic. The word apocalypse comes from the word for revelation.

Making Peace with the Earth The Covid-19 pandemic is a Planetary wakeup call from the Earth to humanity. It reminds us that we are one with the Earth, not separate from it, that we are not her masters, owners and conquerors, nor that we are superior to other species, as the anthropocentric dogma would have us believe. The pandemic is reminding us that we violate the rights of the Earth and all her species at our own peril.

The finalization of the Investigation Report on the Malen land dispute is a constructive step towards a resolution of the conflict We, an international coalition of civil society organizations, welcome the finalization of the Investigation Report which concludes the investigative phase of the conflict resolution process concerning the land conflict between the multinational palm oil company SOCFIN and communities in the Malen Chiefdom of Sierra Leone.

10 de febrero de 2020 António Guterres Secretary-General, United Nations New York, NY USA Llamado a revocar a Agnes Kalibata de AGRA como Enviado Especial para la Cumbre de los Sistemas Alimentarios de las Naciones Unidas de 2021 Querido Secretary-General Guterres, Nosotros, las 176 organizaciones abajo firmantes de 83 países, escribimos para condenar y rechazar el nombramiento de Agnes Kalibata, Presidenta de la Alianza para una Revolución Verde en África (AGRA), como su Enviada Especial para la Cumbre de Sistemas Alimentarios de las Naciones Unidas de 2021.

10 février 2020 António Guterres Secrétaire général, Nations Unies New York, NY USA Appel à révoquer Agnes Kalibata d'AGRA en tant qu'envoyée spéciale au Sommet des systèmes alimentaires de l'ONU de 2021 Cher Secrétaire général Guterres, Nous, soussignées 176 organisations de 83 pays, vous écrivons pour condamner et rejeter la nomination d'Agnès Kalibata, présidente de l'Alliance pour une révolution verte en Afrique (AGRA), en tant qu'envoyée spéciale du Sommet des systèmes alimentaires de l'ONU de 2021.

February 10, 2020 António Guterres Secretary-General, United Nations New York, NY USA Call to Revoke AGRA’s Agnes Kalibata as Special Envoy to 2021 UN Food Systems Summit Dear Secretary-General Guterres, We, the undersigned 176 organizations from 83 countries, write to condemn and reject the appointment of Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as your Special Envoy to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.

Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia 1111 Columbus Ave San Francisco, CA 94133 Re: Suspicious Death of Environmental Human Rights Activist Golfrid Siregar Dear Consul General Simon D.I Soekarno: We represent 240 civil society organizations writing in regards to Golfrid Siregar, an Indonesian environmental lawyer who died on October 6, 2019, under suspicious circumstances. On October 3, 2019, Golfrid Siregar was found beaten and abandoned on the side of a road in Medan.

Kip Tom United States Permanent Representative United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture Rome Dear Honorable Ambassador Tom, The United Nations (UN) Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has been leading a process to study and implement agroecology around the world to address food security, rural livelihoods, and climate change.