JA4change

*Maputo, Mozambique – [Date]* – Justiça Ambiental (JA!), a mozambican association that works to protect and defend the environment and the communities that depend on it in Mozambique, has launched a public petition in collaboration with local residents, urging the governments of Mozambique, Botswana, and Zimbabwe to halt the proposed deepwater port development in Techobanine. The development threatens the rich biodiversity of Maputo National Park and the well-being of local communities.

The Techobanine port project, a collaboration between the three countries, proposes the construction of a mineral export port on Mozambique’s southern coast. However, environmental experts, local residentes and civil society organizations, including JA!, warn of severe ecological destruction, including the degradation of marine ecosystems, the disruption of critical wildlife habitats, and the displacement of coastal communities.

“Techobanine is home to unique and endangered species, including humpback whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Its pristine coral reefs and interconnected freshwater lakes are irreplaceable, and the proposed port development would have catastrophic effects on these ecosystems,” said *Anabela Lemos*, Director of Justiça Ambiental.

*Key concerns of the Techobanine port project include:*

– *Destruction of Biodiversity:* The proposed site lies within Maputo National Park, a critical habitat for marine and terrestrial wildlife.

– *Loss of Livelihoods:* Tourism, which supports 90% of local employment, would be severely impacted, jeopardizing thousands of jobs in coastal communities.

– *Marine Pollution and Habitat Disruption:* The dredging process and the influx of ships and trucks transporting coal and minerals will introduce pollution, noise, and habitat loss, endangering marine life and affecting coastal ecosystems.

The petition, now open for signatures, calls on the Mozambique government to:

– Suspend plans for the Techobanine port development.

– Consider alternative locations that do not threaten protected areas such as Maputo National Park.

In addition to local communities, JA! is seeking international support for the petition, inviting global environmental organizations and individuals to join the cause. The petition has already gained traction on social media platforms and among environmental advocates globally.

“We urge the Mozambique Parliament and the international community to consider the long-term environmental damage this project could cause. There are sustainable alternatives that prioritize both economic growth and environmental protection,” Lemos added.

How to Support the Petition:

Sign the petition (English): https://bit.ly/46oiAJ4

Sign the petition (Portuguese): https://bit.ly/3Ss2Wq5

For further information, please contact:

*Justiça Ambiental (JA!)*

Email: jamoz2010@gmail.com

Website: https://justica-ambiental.org

Justiça Ambiental (JA!) is a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental justice in Mozambique. Its mission is to promote sustainable development, protect Mozambique’s natural ecosystems, and advocate for the rights of local communities affected by environmental degradation. Through advocacy, education, and activism, JA! aims to empower communities and influence policies that support environmental conservation and climate justice.

“African narratives on energy and climate Justice”

The right to live in an environment that is not harmful to one’s health and well-being, the right to self-determination, the right to work, the right to a dignified life, are just some of the fundamental human rights that are systematically violated by big corporations across the globe, with the support of coopted governments, and with particular incidence and severity in Africa and across the global South. Yet, despite overwhelming evidence and popular condemnation, corporations still manage to continue to destroy lives with impunity. The results of a neoliberal, corporate-led, extractives-based, patriarchal socio-economic model that places profits before people are there for everyone to see, as transnational corporations make record high profits amidst pandemics and other deepening crises, and externalize the impacts of their activities to society. From the climate crisis, to wars and genocide, to the biodiversity crisis, the role of big capital in fueling death and destruction has become a subject of research and analysis, but also of massive mobilizations, as social movements and civil society organizations from across the globe demand accountability, system change, a life of dignity for all and peoples’ centered alternatives to the current global order.

The Maputo Workshop on Corporate Impunity and Human Rights, now convened in its 8^th consecutive year, has become a crucial space for grassroots communities, civil society organisations, activists, academics, lawyers and government representatives to discuss and learn from each other about the complex and obscure ways through which transnational corporations have managed to capture our democratic structures and processes. Through lobby, economic influence, corruption and other tactics, corporations have been slowly making these structures and processes work for the benefit of the corporate elites, and against the interests of the people. It is also a space to learn about iconic struggles against corporate power, get inspired by collective actions demanding the right to say no to harmful investments, and forge new ways of resisting, mobilizing and transforming our societies.

In 2024, our workshop will focus on African narratives around energy and climate justice, discussing topics such as:

– Who is at the frontlines of facing climate impacts?

– What have been the strategies used by fossil fuel companies to delay and weaken urgently needed climate action?

– Which narratives coming from within the continent help reinforce models of exploitation and carbon colonialism?

– What are false solutions, who is pushing them, and how do they distract us from the real solutions?

– What are some of the instruments and tools that corporations have at their disposal to reap profits out of crises?

– What hides behind the word ‘development’, as we see more and more dirty energy projects being promoted in our territories in the global South?

– And in what ways are the shrinking of civic space and increased government authoritarianism a reflection of the corporate hijack of our democracies?

As we debate and try to answer these and other questions, we will also look at solutions: what kind of clean and popular energy solutions are being implemented across the continent and across the globe, that not only present a solution to the climate and energy crisis, but also contribute to rolling back the unregulated power of transnational corporations?

As Justiça Ambiental JA! celebrates it’s 20^th anniversary of its official founding, we invite you all to join us for this radically emancipatory event about understanding corporate power in its many forms, and taking collective action to dismantle it. Our purpose here will be to collectively understand how our daily problems have origins in systemic issues, and how we can address the injustices of the current systems by organizing our movements and taking collective action against the corporate take-over. Our climate, our planet, our humanity demand it!

The Workshop will take place in Maputo, on August 12^th to 15^th. To register, please write an e-mail with your name and institution to impunidade.corporativa@gmail.com or via phone on +258 86 8242893 / 21 496668.

Today, 8th of March, is International Women’s Day, we celebrate the political mobilization, the many struggles and achievements of women over the last century. Despite important achievements, the day must remain an important moment for reflection and continued struggle: against patriarchy, against capitalism, against gender-based violence and against all forms of oppression and discrimination that still persist.

According to a study by the Centro de Integridade Pública (Center for Public Integrity)(CIP, 2023), more than half of the Mozambican population is composed by women, of whom around 85.4% are available for the labor market. However, of these, more than 90% are in the informal, agricultural and commercial sector, with a high degree of precariousness, temporary jobs, low levels of social and legal protection, low and unstable incomes.

This scenario is the result of various factors, but mainly the low level of access to education for girls and women, and the persistent maintenance of the traditional role of women as subservient to men. Despite the various instruments and initiatives aimed at protecting and emancipating women and promoting equal rights and duties, to this day Mozambican society does not reserve the same rights for men and women. There is still an alarming rate of violence against women, rooted in the social understanding of women’s role of submission and subjection.

Wars, armed conflicts, forced displacement, extreme weather events, loss of land and livelihoods affect women and girls in a differentiated and more accentuated way, due to the vulnerability caused by the role they normally play. This is the scenario in Mozambique. On the one hand, the conflict in Cabo Delgado has been particularly cruel and impacting on women and children, the number of people displaced by this conflict is increasing every day and there is still no solution in sight, nor does there seem to be any political will to provide the necessary assistance and care for the displaced. On the other hand, and directly linked to this, the focus on extractive development and megaprojects led by transnational companies has not contributed to poverty reduction, has not contributed to better living conditions for the population, and has in fact aggravated the vulnerability and poverty of a large part of the population, particularly women and the most vulnerable groups, leading to forced displacement, loss of land and means of subsistence, violence and sexual harassment.

May International Women’s Day serve as a time for deep reflection, and may it not be used once again for ceremonies empty of sentiment, empty of justice that only serve to pretend that the countless challenges that women face every day around the world are really on the global agenda. We celebrate the day in solidarity with all the many women displaced by wars and conflicts fueled by the greed of a few, in solidarity with all the women who are fighting today and always to keep their territories and livelihoods!!!

Let nothing limit us,
let nothing define us,
let nothing hold us.
Let freedom be
our own substance

Simone de Beauvoir