Lavrov compared the life of bears in Russia and that of Indians in the United States
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov compared the life of bears in Russia to the life of indigenous peoples in the United States. The diplomat made a comical statement at a meeting with young art and culture workers on the Tavrida art cluster site, writes…
Climate change: The Arctic reindeer herder whose livelihood is threatened by warmer winters
Slava Kemlil, a member of the Chukchi indigenous people in Russia’s Far East, has lived a life bound to nature’s pulse – but the changing landscape of his tundra environment is posing fresh challenges. Slava Kemlil is waiting for us on the dock in…
Rosatom subsidiary plans for lithium mining on the Kola Peninsula
Production of lithium compounds could start by 2030 in both Murmansk and Irkutsk regions with an estimated amount of 50 thousand tons annually. The world’s hunger for lithium-ion batteries is sky-rocketing as the car industry rapidly changes from combustion engines to electric powertrains. A…
Nornickel’s ruthless business model and the responsibility of German corporations
German corporations must demand that Russian extractive company Nornickel respect indigenous rights and environmental standards – or end business deals After more than 21,000 tons of diesel leaked from a power plant tank in May 2020, causing the largest oil spill in the Russian…
Former dam executive found guilty in the killing of Berta Cáceres
The alleged ringleader of the 2016 killing of environmental and Indigenous rights activist Berta Cáceres was convicted of murder by a Honduran court on Monday. Roberto David Castillo Mejía, the ex-head of the dam company Desa, was found guilty of participating in the assassination…
If you don’t know treaties and sovereignty, you don’t know history
Sovereignty is sovereignty, treaties are treaties, and nation to nation is between and among sovereigns There’s a widespread notion that “tribal sovereignty” and “Indian treaties” are legal, historical, practical and correct terms. Actually, sovereignty is sovereignty, and treaties are treaties, nation to nation is between and…
Indigenous people are the world’s biggest conservationists, but they rarely get credit for it
More than 30 percent of the Earth is already conserved. Thank Indigenous people and local communities. In a lush swath of tropical forest on the eastern coast of Mindanao, the second-largest island in the Philippines, you can glimpse the brilliant plumage of the rare…
A decade of the Ruggie Principles: World events and looming legislation are forcing investors to step up on human rights
RI’s human rights specialist Gina Gambetta reflects on recent developments on the 10th anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights June marks 10 years since the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs),…
Ground Temperatures Hit 118 Degrees in the Arctic Circle
The ongoing climate crisis is not going to spare Siberia. Newly published satellite imagery shows the ground temperature in at least one location in Siberia topped 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) going into the year’s longest day. It’s hot Siberia Earth summer, and it certainly won’t be…
Mega oil project in Russia’s far north threatens Arctic indigenous communities
Rosneft is developing a massive oil project on the Taymyr peninsula with 15 towns, a port, two airports and 800km of pipeline Gennady Schukin has returned to his flat in the city of Dudinka, above the Arctic circle, from a 600 kilometre trip to…