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The fair and equitable production and distribution of energy resources, plus access to green and renewable energy, is not only critical for a healthy planet but also an important matter of just societies and futures. Together with our partners, we recognize issues around energy as ecofeminist matters that need a strong feminist human rights-based approach. 

As an ecofeminist network, we want to provide space for the stories of inspiring champions in the fields of gender equality and the fight against climate change and environmental pollution. We believe that a sustainable future and environment need feminist solutions reflecting the lives of people on the ground. That is why we work on transformative gender equality and women’s human rights in interconnection with sustainable development and climate justice.

Industrial logging and palm oil companies destroy important forests in Cameroon. This is intertwined with human rights violations. In an urgent call for action, we share those concerns with several ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Central African Forest Initiative and the European Commission.

The Indonesian palm oil company Astra Agro Lestari is causing land grabs, violence against farmers, and deforestation. In a letter, we call on AAL's owner Jardine Matheson to stop investing in conflict palm oil.

The Marbel Buluan Watershed forms the catchment of several major river systems that straddle over three provinces on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. A controversial mine, the Tampakan copper-gold project, is planned at the centre of the watershed. Over the past decades, numerous local stakeholders have raised concerns on the impacts of the mining project to the environment, health, food security and livelihoods of the directly affected indigenous and local communities and in low-lying areas. In March of this year, after years of preparation, the three provincial governments finally signed a joint ordinance (local law) creating the Mt. Buluan Protected Watershed, in effect putting more than 8,000 hectares of mountain into formal protected area status and a ‘no-go zone’ for destructive projects.

Let the Dutch development bank FMO pause the mediation process between palm oil company PHC and communities in Congo. We make this call to Minister Hanke Bruins Slot (Foreign Affairs).

Last year, a European law protecting forests was enacted. However, some EU countries are now attempting to delay the implementation of this law.

Dutch development bank FMO and French development bank Proparco have investments in Maryland Oil Palm Plantation (MOPP) through its owner SIFCA in the Ivory Coast. Wilmar, one of the largest palm oil companies in the world, is one of the main shareholders. The banks recently visited the operation areas of Maryland Oil Palm Plantation (MOPP) in southeastern Liberia from 10 to 15 March 2024 after the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) and Milieudefensie raised alarm about social and environmental harms in the plantation in their February 2023 report titled: “Social and Environmental Impacts of Maryland Oil Palm Plantations in Liberia.”

The energy transition requires the use of minerals such as nickel. However, a growing number of reports point to the negative environmental and social impact of nickel mining in countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines. 31 investors have now signed a statement with the aim of integrating responsible mining practices and higher standards for the natural, environmental and social impact into nickel chains.