Join us for an insightful webinar on "Defending Environmental Justice at the Frontier" on June 26th!

Discover perspectives from Atty. Grizelda Mayo-Anda of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) Palawan, Philippines, regarding their legal battle for Indigenous Peoples' rights, community rights, environmental justice and against neoliberal extractivism.

The Zoom call will take place from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Central European Time) / 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM (Philippine Time).

The meeting will be conducted in English.

This is the Zoom-Link for the meeting: https://eu01web.zoom.us/j/62703501171

To request the Passcode for the Zoom Session simply register at https://luma.com/zd2oji97 You will then receive the passcode automatically.

Background

The Philippine environmental and human rights organization ELAC Palawan supports four Indigenous and farming-based initiatives in the southern part of the Philippine province of Palawan in their legal disputes against nickel mining corporations. As a raw material for electromobility (vehicle batteries), nickel is in higher demand than ever before. Mining corporations—often backed by international investors—are repeatedly violating existing laws in the province of Palawan in order to illegally open up or expand open-pit mines. In the process, the Philippines' last remaining mountain rainforests are being severely damaged; farmland and river systems are also suffering negative impacts from mining activities. A further complicating factor is that state environmental agencies are issuing tree cutting permits for deforestation that are in direct violation of applicable laws.

Thanks to financial support from the Sächsische Jugendstiftung, the Stiftung Nord-Süd-Brücken, the Stiftung Umverteilen, and the Schmitz Stiftungen, ELAC Palawan is able to represent these local initiatives in court. During the Zoom meeting, the Senior Legal Officer and founder of ELAC Palawan—Attorney Grizelda Mayo-Anda—will share her account of the struggle against these mining corporations and against arbitrary state actions.