Victories for the Environment

Citizen letter campaigns are a powerful force for positive change!  Through Global Response, you can help communities around the world protect the environment and defend the rights of indigenous peoples.  Join Global Response, and celebrate with us these recent victories!

(Note: Each victory listed below has a link to its entry in the Campiagns Index.) 

2006 INDONESIA
In February 2006, Newmont Mining Company agreed to pay $30 million to settle a civil court case that charged the Denver-based company with polluting Buyat Bay on North Sulawesi island. For seven years, Newmont’s Minahasa Raya gold mine dumped toxic mine waste into Buyat Bay, affecting the health of the marine ecosystem and the human population and destroying the local fishing economy. Global Response wrote letters in support of Buyat-area residents and Indonesian NGOs, and together we persuaded the Ministry of Environment to sue Newmont. The $30 million will be used to monitor health and environmental effects of the now-closed Newmont Minahasa Raya mine and provide health care to the affected populations. The Indonesian government also brought criminal charges for polluting against Newmont officials; their trial is ongoing.

“It's a good news for all of us! Thanks to Global Response for all the effort and help to support the Buyat advocacy.”
– JATAM (Indonesian Mining Advocacy Network)

2006 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Beginning in 2004, Global Response members urged the World Bank to halt its program of industrial logging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s vast tropical rainforests. The campaign’s first success was the decision by the Bank’s official Inspection Panel to investigate the complaints brought by “Pygmy” residents of the rainforest. In February 2006, the Inspection Panel issued its preliminary report which sharply criticizes the Bank for not fulfilling its own environmental “safeguard policies” and for not consulting with affected “Pygmy” populations. The Panel is now launching a full investigation into the Bank’s role in managing the exploitation of the DRC’s rainforests.

“Many thanks for your determination and your collaboration with civil society in the DRC to halt the World Bank’s destruction of our forests.”

-- CENADEP (National Center for Development and Popular Participation)

2004 PERU
Beginning in 2001, Global Response organized four rounds of letters to help citizens of Cajamarca, Peru, stop Newmont’s Yanacocha Mine from expanding onto Mount Quilish – the region’s source of drinking water. In September 2004, after protests that shut down the city of Cajamarca for 2 weeks, Peru’s Minister of Energy and Mines withdrew Yanacocha’s permit for mining on Mount Quilish. A Newmont spokesman said, "In light of the concerns and the desire of the people of Cajamarca…we have removed the project from our operations plan." The significance of this victory is described by GRIFIDES, one of the protest organizers:

“This act makes history because the just demands of the people have been heard by the authorities. The struggle for the defense of our rights doesn’t stop here; now we have the opportunity to begin to build a democratic history in a framework of dialog and agreement.”

2004 INDONESIA
After a 4-year campaign spearheaded by Rainforest Action Network, Citigroup, the world’s largest bank, adopted a comprehensive environmental policy that sets new standards for the financial services industry. Global Response contributed to this victory by initiating a letter-writing campaign at the request of Indonesian environmental groups. In Indonesia, Citigroup had financed oil palm companies that destroyed tropical rainforests and indigenous villages. Global Response letters and tough RAN negotiators persuaded Citigroup to deny funding for logging operations in tropical rainforests and curtail investment in oil, gas, logging, and mining in endangered ecosystems. It will also halt investment in illegal logging and urge its clients to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop renewable energy projects.

“Thanks sincerely to all of the Global Response members who helped to make this victory possible. On this day…grassroots activists have held sway over one of the largest companies in the world and achieved tangible commitments that will have a vast effect on endangered ecosystems worldwide…. My hope is that the Citigroup announcement will provide some relief to those who courageously struggle for their homes and their rights.”

– Ilyse Hogue, Global Finance Campaign Director, Rainforest Action Network

2003 RUSSIA
At the request of environmentalists in Siberia, we urged the Russian government to reject a proposal to build an oil pipeline through Tunkinskii National Park to China. The project threatens taiga wilderness, snow leopard habitat, indigenous communities and eco-tourism, and violates Russian environmental laws. In September 2003, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources rejected the pipeline proposal submitted by oil giant Yukos, based on environmental concerns. David Gordon, campaign director at our partner organization Pacific Environment, wrote

“At Pacific Environment, we consider Global Response an essential resource. Thousand of letters pouring in from around the world can have an astounding effect.”

2003 PERU
A consortium of companies including Hunt Oil and Halliburton are building the Camisea Gas Pipeline from the Peruvian Amazon over the Andes to the coast, causing environmental damage in very fragile ecosystems all along the way. The project threatens the survival of three indigenous groups that live in voluntary isolation. Neighboring indigenous groups whose forest-based livelihoods are also affected by the pipeline project asked Global Response to try to cut off U.S. financing for the pipeline project.

Our letters to the U.S. Export-Import Bank helped persuade the bank’s directors to reject the Camisea project in August 2003 – in spite of the Bush administration’s close ties to some of the companies that would have benefited. In a victory letter, our international coalition partners (Amazon Watch, Institute for Policy Studies, Friends of the Earth and Oxfam America) wrote:

“This is a significant victory and one that was without a doubt accomplished with the help of Global Response’s expansive and committed network, and your quick responsiveness…. Global Response was instrumental in raising public awareness and mobilizing international action at critical points throughout the campaign.”

2003 CHILE
When the Canadian company Noranda announced its intention to build an aluminum smelter on Chile’s Patagonia coast, the local Aisen population quickly organized and asked for international support. Hoping to develop eco-tourism and other sustainable projects compatible with their pristine temperate rainforest and coastal fjords, they opposed Noranda’s plan to dam 5 beautiful mountain rivers to provide electricity for a polluting smelter.

In 2002, they designated their region the “Aisen Reserve of Life” and asked Global Response members to support them by writing letters to the president of Chile. A year later, President Lagos gave a speech criticizing the project’s potential for environmental destruction, and Noranda immediately withdrew its Environmental Impact Study from consideration by the Lagos administration. Although Noranda may attempt to revive the project at a later date, for now the people of Aisen are eagerly developing environmentally friendly alternatives.

“A hug and many thanks to all of you who contributed to this victory!”

— Peter Hartmann,
Citizens’ Coordinating Committee for the Aisen Reserve of Life

2002 MEXICO
After many rounds of international letters and local protests, the Mexican government finally revoked a permit for luxury hotel construction on X’cacel beach, Mexico’s most important nesting beach for green and loggerhead sea turtles.

“This is a watershed moment for the consideration of environmental impact in Mexico.”

— Araceli Dominguez, President
Grupo Ecologista del Mayab
Mexico

2002 COSTA RICA
When the Costa Rican government granted concessions along the Carribean coast to US oil companies, coastal communities organized to protect their coral reefs, beaches and marine life from industrial contamination.  A Global Response letter-writing campaign helped them persuade the Ministry of Environment to reject the oil companies' Environmental Impact Studies, calling oil development “environmentally unviable.”

“Our deepest gratitude to Global Response for all the vital support at key moments with your letters and expressions of international solidarity.  Your support from around the world does make a difference for those of us who are on the front lines, challenging multinational companies and corrupt government policies.  Because of you, we don't feel alone, and we have the strength to continue."

— Enrique Joseph

Action de Lucha Anti-Petrolera (ADELA)

Costa Rica

2001 PAKISTAN
A Global Response letter-writing campaign helped convince Shell Oil Company to withdraw from an oil/gas exploration project in Pakistan's natural treasure, Kirthar National Park.

“Against heavy odds, the campaign to force Shell Oil Co. out of the protected Kirthar National Park has succeeded! And it is mainly due to the efforts of organizations like Global Response.  The dikes of Shell Oil could not withstand the flood of Global Response letters. It is a great victory for conservationists all over the world."

— Farhan Anwar, Coordinator
       Citizens Committee on Kirthar, Karachi, Pakistan

2001 CHILE
Together, Chilean and international environmental organizations stopped U.S. logging giant Boise Cascade from building the world's largest chip mill in Chile.  The chip mill operation would have logged 5 million acres of ancient temperate rainforests, doubling the rate of deforestation in southern Chile.

“Thanks to all of you who made this possible.  This is a big success!!!”

2000 GUATEMALA
The Guatemalan government granted illegal concessions to oil companies for exploration inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Local villagers and environmental organizations asked Global Response to help them prevent destruction of the Reserve's tropical forests and wetlands - home to more than half the animal species found in Guatemala.

“During the months of April, May and June of this year [2000], we received hundreds of letters and emails, demanding the Guatemalan authorities respect one of the last remaining tropical forests on our planet. We are very happy to inform you that the ... international campaign was a complete victory! ... The government recognized the severe social and environmental impacts that oil development could provoke, and made a decision that is without precedent in our country: oil development will not proceed as long as it is opposed by the people of Guatemala.”

“Your letters were very important in winning this victory, and we want you to know that we will always remember your gesture of solidarity.”

2000 INDIA
The people of the Narmada River Valley are determined to stop the construction of the Maheshwar Dam. The dam would displace millions of people in the Narmada Valley and destroy the ecology of a sacred river. Narmada people pledge to remain in their villages as the reservoir waters engulf them. In December 1999, Global Response launched a letter campaign to stop German financing for construction of the Maheshwar Dam. In August 2000, the German government released a very critical study of the Maheshwar Dam, and withdrew financing.

“This is a major victory for the people of the valley and for friends and supporters like you ... We do not know you personally, nor do you know us, but we are brothers and sisters in the struggle for justice and the affirmation of life that transcends all geopgraphical and national or cultural barriers. The joy at our victory is yours, too. We thank you for your support.”

2000 KENYA
The Kenyan government signed an agreement with a Canadian company to strip-mine the biologically rich coastal forests for titanium. Six thousand people would be displaced an all the earth and vegetation removed to a depth of 40 meters. Concerned about irreversible damage to the forests, rivers, mangroves, coral reefs, and indigenous villages, Kenyans formed a coalition to stop the strip-mining project. Global Response supported their protests with a letter campaign to Kenyan government officials. In September, having received more than 1,000 letters, the government agreed to suspend the project while new environmental studies are conducted wit the participation of local communities.

“We think this is a great step in the right direction. It is a step which would not have been achieved without the support of all Kenyans and international organizations. Global Response being one of them. To this I say ASANTE SANA.”

“By working closely with your organization, we have developed the courage to fight on, knowing quite well that we are not alone, and that we have reliable partners who are, though far away, standing by our side.”

1999 USA
Global Response joined Rainforest Action Network and other environmental organizations in a two-year campaign to persuade The Home Depot (world's largest wood retailer) to stop buying wood from old growth forests. Victory in the Home Depot campaign came in August 1999, followed by multiple victories as other wood products retailers followed Home Depot's example.

“Thank you for all of your efforts and the excellent work done by Global Response members in this campaign. Letters from concerned citizens was likely the most effective mechanism that we employed to get Home Depot to change. It's a great victory for the forests, I hope you can take the time to celebrate!”

1999 USA
Farmers' organizations on 4 continents asked Global Response to help convince Monsanto Company to halt development of “Terminator Seeds.” These genetically engineered crops produce sterile seeds, forcing farmers to purchase new seed for every growing season; they also threaten biodiversity. In October 1999, Monsanto caved to pressure from farmers and citizens around the world, and stopped developing Terminator Technology.

A Global Response letter campaign also helped convince the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to oppose Terminator Technology as a threat to worldwide food security.

1998 INDIA
When P&O Ports announced plans to build India's largest commercial port in a region declared “ecologically fragile”, local tribal people and environmentalists asked GR for help. Our letters, combined with a year of local protests, persuaded P&O to abandon the plan, preserving the forested region of Dahanu, known as the “lungs of Bombay”.

1998 HAITI
Ten years ago, four tons of toxic ash from the City of Philadelphia were dumped on a beach in Haiti. At the request of Haitian organizations and Greenpeace, GR members urged the mayor of Philadelphia to help pay for a long-overdue cleanup. Even though the mayor insists that the City has no obligation, he finally agreed to pay $50,000.

1998 NICARAGUA
Indigenous and environmental groups protested a Korean logging concession in the largest rainforest north of the Amazon. At their request, GR members wrote letters to the president of Nicaragua. In February he declared the logging concession null and void - a victory for Mayangna and Miskito peoples and their international allies.

1997 ECUADOR
Villagers and environmental organizations in Ecuador's cloud forest region want to stop Bishimetals from building a copper mine there. After GR members wrote to Mitsubishi, we heard from the Ecuadorian organization DECOIN:

“Partly due to people who care enough to take the time to write and send letters to the right people, enough pressure has been applied, so that Bishimetals has publicly announced that it has no intention of exploiting minerals from the Junin area.”

Accion Ecologica also believes GR letters to the Ecuadorian Minister of Energy and Mines has increased his attentiveness to their demands that all mining be prohibited in the cloud forest region.

1997 INDIA
The World Bank disbursed funds for construction of dozens of medical waste incinerators in India, over the protests of public health and environmental organizations. At the request of the Indian Campaign Against Medical Waste Incineration, GR flooded the Bank's Environment Department with letters. The Bank stopped construction for one year, during which time it will study alternative disposal methods.

1996 NIGERIA
GR asked the World Bank to press the Nigerian government to enforce environmental impact assessment laws and prevent illegal logging by the multinational WEMPCO in the Cross River National Park region. The NGO Coalition for the Environment wrote, “Thanks again for your individual and collective efforts it worked, because the Bank responded.”

1995 SOUTH AFRICA
A vanadium mine owned by the US Strategic Minerals Corporation refused to talk with workers and communities who complained of air pollution and health hazards. GR's letters on behalf of the South African Exchange Program on Environmental Justice persuaded the managers to cooperate with health studies, reduce pollution, and meet with the affected people.

1995 INDIA
GR supported community environmental activists (The Goa Foundation) in opposing DuPont's proposed nylon 6,6 plant in Goa. Three months later, DuPont withdrew the Goa proposal.

1994 USA Alert Citizens for Environmental Safety
asked GR to write letters to the US Environmental Protection Agency and ask for a full review of a planned nuclear dumpsite in a predominantly Hispanic community to see whether it complies with the Executive Order on Environmental Justice. GR also urged Congressional Representatives and Senators to consider issues of environmental justice before approving any site for toxic, hazardous or nuclear waste dumps. The nuclear waste “Compact Bill” was defeated.

1993 LOUISIANA, USA
African American communities (Citizens Against Nuclear Trash) asked GR to help stop the construction of a uranium enrichment plant which would put nuclear waste in their backyards. GR members mounted 4 letter campaigns over a 3-year period. In May 1997 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled against licensing the plant on grounds of environmental racism a very important precedent for environmental justice in the US.

1993 BURMA
At the request of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front and the Institute on Trade Policy, GR conducted 5 letter campaigns over a 5-year period, asking Texaco and Unocal oil companies to withdraw from Burma, where their investments support a brutally oppressive military dictatorship and contribute to the destruction of teak forests and a wildlife sanctuary. In September 1997, Texaco joined scored of multinational corporations that left Burma in protest.

1993 SOUTH AFRICA
The Campaign for St. Lucia and the Wildlife Society of Southern Africa credited GR for influencing the government of South Africa to create the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park and prohibit dredge-mining within it.

1992 BAHAMAS
On behalf of reEarth, GR members asked Owens-Illinois to retrieve all toxic waste and pesticides (including Agent Orange) from its abandoned sugar mill on Abaco, Bahamas. A few months later, Owens-Illinois announced it would take the lead in cleaning up the Abaco site. The clean-up was carried out two years later.

1992 HONDURAS
GR members wrote letters to the president of Honduras and the President of the Honduran Congress, urging them to delay ratification of a contract that would allow Stone Container Corporation to log the largest remaining pine savannah in Central America. On behalf of the Fundacion Cuero y Salado, GR members also asked for completion of an environmental impact statement and inventory of flora and fauna in the region. The head of the Honduran Department of Forestry rejected the contract, saying that “due to public and technical interest it was impossible to reach a satisfactory agreement with the Stone Container Company.”

1991 PERU
The Peruvian Environmental Law Association asked GR members to protest a contract that would allow Texas Crude and Petro Peru to drill for oil in the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve. Due to “pressure from environmentalists,” the Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mines first postponed and later withdrew the contract.

1991 VENEZUELA
Foreign developers and the Venezuelan government planned to build a tourist resort, golf course, landfill, desalination plant and highway inside the Cuare Wildlife Refuge. At the request of the Audubon Society of Venezuela, GR members wrote letters to government officials. Within 2 months the government admitted “this is an embarrassment for Venezuela,” and suspended construction plans. It also set up a commission to permanently protect Cuare Wildlife Refuge.