IN BRAZIL, COVID-19 OUTBREAK PAVES WAY FOR INVASION OF INDIGENOUS LANDS (10 April 2020)
Mongabay: With outsider encroachment into indigenous reserves continuing to escalate in the Brazilian Amazon and the COVID-19 outbreak spreading rapidly throughout the country, indigenous people are increasingly vulnerable to both violence and infection. The threats are exacerbated by a reduction in environmental oversight by authorities due to social distancing restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic.
THIS PANDEMIC IS ECOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN: DIFFERENT TEMPO SAME SONG (9 April 2020)
Resilience: In late 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) emerged from a wet market in Wuhan in the province of Hubei in China. At the time of writing, it has resulted in cases approaching 1 million and the deaths of over 42,000 people worldwide. Only a couple months ago, the world was taken aback by unprecedented bushfires in Australia, massive youth movements striking for stronger action to tackle climate change, and a groundswell of protests across the world demanding greater democracy, an end to state oppression, and against debilitating economic austerity in places ranging from Hong Kong, to India, to Chile, respectively.
WE FOUND PATIENT ZERO: IT’S THE HISTORICAL INJUSTICE OF OUR WASTE SYSTEM (9 April 2020)
Medium: It’s hard to imagine that a year ago we were celebrating the announcement of the planned shut down of the Detroit Renewable Power facility, a 33-year old incinerator that has plagued the community living in its shadow with toxic air pollution for a generation. The community organized under the banner Breath Free Detroit fought hard to shut down the incinerator and won. Last week, I called KT Andresky, Breathe Free Detroit’s Campaign Organizer, after hearing that the Michigan Department of Health reported the breakdown of COVID-19 deaths by race to hear how people in her community are feeling right now. People are concerned. The report found that African-American or Black people account for 14% of the state population, but 41% of all COVID-19 related deaths in Michigan.
INDONESIA CITES PANDEMIC TO SET ASIDE ITS COMMITMENTS TO FLEGT (8 April 2020)
Fern: Following its “omnibus” legal package to encourage investment through deregulation of labour and environmental laws (FW 253), the Government of Indonesia is citing the COVID-19 pandemic to justify by-passing Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) protections for its forests and forest-dependent people.
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC COULD FORCE HALF A BILLION PEOPLE INTO POVERTY (8 April 2020
Huffpost: The economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world could lead to 580 million people ― 8% of humanity ― being pushed into poverty and see an increase in global poverty for the first time since 1990. These findings come from a new report released by researchers at King’s College London and the Australian National University, which looks at the impact of declines in household consumption.
THE VIRUS IN THE BODY POLITIC: WE HAVE LOST OUR ABILITY TO CHERISH EACH OTHER (4 April 2020)
The Globe and Mail: I was living in Beijing in 2003 when SARS struck, and I can remember how that felt. It descended as an entirely new thing – a new concept, an unwelcome intruder, an ominous threat. It galvanized a new mindset in society and led the government to impose unprecedented defences. Some of those defences have been used again to combat the coronavirus, but to citizens, the two campaigns have felt different. SARS felt like a battle; coronavirus feels like a war.
