People in resistance Standing up against corporate climate criminals

Behind every story lies a recurring pattern. From lithium to gold, from hydrocarbons to monocultures, corporations from the Global North continue to expand their extraction frontiers, disguising as a ‘green transition’ a model that dispossesses territories, damages ecosystems and criminalises those who defend them.

ARGENTINA

The mining corporation Glencore controls the MARA critical minerals mega-project in the province of Catamarca and is seeking to expand into San Juan. Communities report that it threatens glaciers and high-Andean watersheds in semi-arid areas, whilst water defenders face repression and criminalisation. The resistance in Andalgalá remains steadfast in the face of the advance of extractivism.

BRAZIL

Sigma Lithium is driving the Grota do Cirilo mega-project in the Jequitinhonha Valley, presented as “green mining” for the energy transition. In a region marked by deep inequalities, afro-descendant Quilombola communities denounce environmental racism, forced displacement and loss of territory. Investigations point to water pollution, health impacts and the destruction of local livelihoods.

Whilst the company promotes itself as part of the climate solution, in reality it perpetuates an extractive model that sacrifices communities in the name of lithium.

COLOMBIA

The mining corporation AngloGold Ashanti attempted to impose the La Colosa and Quebradona cobber megaprojects. The resistance in Cajamarca said ‘no’ in a referendum, and in Jericó, peasant farmers face more than 60 legal proceedings for defending water and life. Environmental studies warned of biodiversity loss, risks to the Cauca River and impacts on indigenous communities. Even so, the company insists on returning.

ECUADOR

Oil corporation Chevron left behind more than a thousand toxic ponds and polluted rivers in the Amazon.

More than 30,000 people — indigenous and rural communities — continue to demand justice for the deaths, illnesses and destruction of their territories.

After decades of litigation, the company evades responsibility and has become a global symbol of corporate impunity.

URUGUAY

Chevron is now seeking to extract hydrocarbons in deep waters. Coastal communities are denouncing a lack of information, a breach of the Escazú Agreement on environmental protection, and risks to small-scale fishing and marine biodiversity. The project runs counter to the country’s climate commitments and reinforces a fossil-fuel model that the world should be moving away from.

EL SALVADOR

Cement corporation Holcim has expanded its plant in Metapán and burns millions of tyres and toxic waste in its incinerators. Communities report air pollution, respiratory illnesses and water loss, whilst the company promotes itself as ‘sustainable’ for installing solar panels and supporting social programmes. Organisations such as CESTA and MOVIAC are resisting and point out that incineration is not a transition: it is a false solution.

COSTA RICA

Agrocommodity corporation Del Monte controls more than half of the country’s pineapple production. Its monoculture has destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and polluted the water with pesticides, causing poisoning and serious illnesses in communities and among migrant workers. Whilst promoting its pineapples as “carbon neutral”, organisations such as Foro Emaús and FRENASAPP denounce greenwashing and defend food sovereignty against this agro-export model.

MEXICO

Agrochemical corporation Bayer-Monsanto promoted genetically modified seeds and the widespread use of the herbicide glyphosate, linked to thousands of cases of poisoning and deaths. Peasants and indigenous people organised the Maíz Class Action and succeeded in halting its advance, defending food sovereignty.

Whilst the company presents itself as “green and sustainable”, its practices continue to threaten biodiversity and health.

PARAGUAY

The mining corporation LAMPA uses cyanide and mercury to extract gold in Paso Yobái. Yerba mate producers and indigenous communities are denouncing river pollution and the criminalisation of protest. Moreover the peasant resistance is demanding that mining-free zones be declared and that water and life be protected.

In every territory, communities are demonstrating that the true transition is not led by companies or governments: it is built from the bottom up, through people’s sovereignty, climate justice and dignity.

No people are alone. In the face of the advance of corporate climate criminals, communities are weaving popular power, defending life in all its forms and reaffirming that environmental justice is also social, economic and gender justice.

The above cases compiles research by Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC) revealing how these corporations operate in different territories, their social and environmental impacts, and the many forms of resistance flourishing in the face of impunity.

NOAH stands with our sister organisations Tierra Nativa in Argentina, Friends of the Earth Brazil, CENSAT Agua Viva in Colombia, the Union of People Affected by the Oil Operations of Texaco/Chevron (UDAPT) in Ecuador, REDES Friends of the Earth Uruguay, CESTA Friends of the Earth El Salvador, COECOCeiba Friends of the Earth Costa Rica, Otros Mundos Chiapas - Friends of the Earth Mexico, Sobrevivencia - Friends of the Earth Paraguay and with ATALC as a whole.

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