Africa: Up for grabs - The scale and impact of land rabbing for agrofuels

The amount of land being taken in Africa to meet Europe’s increasing demand for biofuels is underestimated and out of control, this investigation reveals. The research looks at 11 African countries and finds at least five million hectares of land is being acquired by foreign companies to produce biofuels mainly for the European market. The report reveals how local communities are having their land taken, forests and natural vegetation are being cleared, and there are few safeguards for local community land rights.  Read more

Working for development?

This report raises critical questions about the ArcelorMittal's complicity in the misuse of the first tranche of approximately US$4.7 million County Social Development Fund in Liberia and warns that the fund could be stolen and misused by politicians in charge to support their upcoming election campaigns in 2011. Read more

Friends of the Earth Europe Annual Review 2009

Highlights of Friends of the Earth Europe's campaigns in Brussels, key successes from our 31 member groups across Europe. Also contains financial information, capacity building projects across the network, publications, and our aims for the year ahead.  Read more

Tar sands - Fuelling the climate crisis, undermining EU energy security and damaging development objectives

The global development of tar sands will magnify the climate crisis and damage the EU’s environment and development objectives, this report warns. It reveals that investment by European oil companies – such as BP, Shell, Total and ENI – is expanding with developments around the world including in the Republic of Congo, Venezuela, Madagascar, Russia, Jordan and Egypt, with potentially disastrous consequences for the climate and local communities. Read more

Measuring our resource use - a vital tool in creating a resource-efficient EU

Europe is using ever more of the world’s resources, and is now more dependent on imported resources than any other global region. Yet
we’re also throwing away over 5 billion euros worth of valuable resources
every year.

Friends of the Earth Europe is calling on the European Union to take the first steps to tackle this issue by ensuring that it measures resource use and adopts policies to increase resource efficiency, such as higher recycling targets. The EU should also devise long-term targets and strategies in order to reduce our use of the world’s resources. Read more
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Bursting the Brussels Bubble - the battle to expose corporate lobbying at the heart of the EU

Written by some of the leading experts on lobbying transparency in Europe, this book provides an eye-opening insight into decision-making within the European Union – and offers a valuable guide to fighting for greater transparency and accountability.

This collection of articles reveals how lobbyists from the world of big business have successfully embedded themselves inside the European Union’s decision-making process, creating a political culture where, behind closed doors, the influence of business has become the norm. Drawing on case studies which show the lobbyists in action, it provides a compelling argument for greater transparency and accountability.  Read more

Lobbying in Brussels - How much do the top 50 companies in the EU spend?

Based on an analysis of the entries of the 50 largest EU-based companies on the European Commission's lobby register, the report confirms that lobbying in Brussels by Europe's 50 largest companies is happening in secret despite attempts to secure transparency. The study points to unrealistic registration details in the Commission register and unfeasibly low budgets for lobbying in Europe when compared to the US, as well as large discrepancies at a sector-specific level. Read more

Too Green to be True: IOI Corporation in Ketapang District, West Kalimantan

This report reveals that the Malaysian showcase company IOI Group does not live up to its environmental promises in newly established plantations in the Ketapang district – the Indonesian part of Borneo. Glossy CSR policies, engagement in multi-stakeholder initiatives and the possession of certificates from the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil do not offer proof of IOI Group’s ‘green’ credentials. Instead, Europe’s increasing demand for palm oil in food and biofuels is leading to deforestation, breaches of environmental law and land conflicts in Asia. Read more