AMAZON PROGRAM
2021 Media Highlights
The following summary is a broad snapshot of Stand.earth’s earned media coverage of our Amazon Program, which has earned hundreds media hits over the past 12-18 months. It is not a comprehensive list of all media coverage. Our intent is to highlight big coverage (like Bloomberg, Reuters, the Wall Street Journals, or CBC), niche environmental publications (like InsideClimate News or Grist), and trade press (like Responsible Investor).
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OVERVIEW ●
Leading financial outlets Reuters, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, and Financial Times’ The Banker published original articles on European bank commitments, which were then republished in hundreds of outlets.
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Daily newspapers in France, Switzerland and Ecuador also covered European bank commitments — key outlets that were likely seen by bank execs
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Stand.earth Research Group’s expertise helps campaign land op-ed in Responsible Investor
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Stand.earth committed to centering and elevating untapped Indigenous leadership, expertise, and stewardship -- specifically COICA, the coordinating body of Indigenous organizations in the Amazon River Basin 4
IMPACT ●
Amazon bank trade financing report played key role in forcing EU bank engagement, supporting advocacy efforts that have led to 5 European banks end to oil trade financing from the Western Amazon
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Campaign’s strong relationship with Reuters continues to pay off with multiple exclusives .
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Releasing internal investigations alongside new bank commitments helped campaign increase media attention, by leading with the type of breaking news financial outlets are interested in
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Elevation of COICA's leadership at the IUCN's world stage, and worldwide attention (Reuters, Grist, Mongabay, Climate Home News) to COICA-led major motion to protect 80 percent of the Amazon by 2025 which will now shape global policy on the entire Amazon biome 5
AMAZON THREAT REPORT | COP Madrid 2019
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AMAZON VIDEO RELEASE | Spring 2020
May 2020 https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-environment-amazon-indigenous/help-usprotect-the-headwaters-of-the-amazon-from-oil-companies-elders-say-idUKKBN22Y1OW
June 2020 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-indigenous-oil/peru-indigenous-leaders-pushquick-amazon-protection-vote-defying-oil-industry-idUSKBN23T33B?il=0
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TRADE FINANCE REPORT RELEASE | August 2020 European banks committed to backing action on climate change face allegations of double standards from indigenous groups in Ecuador after a report named them as major players in the trade in oil from the Amazon rainforest. Stand.earth and Amazon Watch said ING, Credit Suisse, Natixis, BNP Paribas, UBS and Rabobank were the largest backers in the shipment of about $10 billion of dollars of Ecuadorian crude to U.S. refineries over the last decade.
August 2020 https://www.reuters.com/article/climate-change-banks/exclusive-europeanbanks-face-indigenous-calls-to-end-amazon-oil-trade-idUSL8N2F75SV
“Banks need to respect indigenous rights. They are violating the spirit of their own environmental policies,” said Tyson Miller, Forest Programs Director at Stand.earth.
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TRADE FINANCE REPORT RELEASE | August 2020
August 2020 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/12/european-banksurged-to-stop-funding-oil-trade-in-amazon August 2020 https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-newsheadlines/european-banks-criticized-for-funding-amazon-oil-trade-59884891
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EUROPEAN BANK EXITS BEGIN | January 2021 "Any banks involved in this trade will face growing scrutiny, unless Ecuador's government puts a moratorium on new drilling and addresses the environmental damage and rights violations caused by existing production. Ecuador is going to need support to get out from under crushing debt, but new drilling in primary forests without consent from indigenous peoples is not the solution." Tzeporah Berman in a Reuters article from January 2021 that was republished in nearly 100 outlets worldwide https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/european-lenders-exit-amazon-oil-trade-after-scrutiny-by-campaigners-20 21-01-25/
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EUROPEAN BANK EXITS BEGIN | January 2021
https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-banks-quit-ecuadors-amazonian-oil-trade-11611561601
https://gk.city/2021/01/25/bancos-europeos-explotacion-petrolera-ecuador/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/credit-suisse-bnp-to-exit-amazon-oil-finance-aftercriticism?srnd=premium-europe
https://www.efeverde.com/noticias/bancos-europeos-financiar-comercio-petrolero-amazonia-ecuatoriana/
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/1/25/hold-3-european-banks-stop-fundin g-trade-of-ecuadorian-amazon-oil https://www.letemps.ch/economie/epinglees-banques-suisses-se-retirent-petrole-amazonien
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AMAZON | Trade Finance Leadership
“If we are to protect the Amazon, no financial instruments require dismantling more urgently than those that support the global trade in crude oil. Bank finance, both transaction-based trade finance approaches and loans and revolving credit facilities (RCFs), are its lifeblood, providing billions of dollars that create liquidity for oil traders to make deals, drive demand and even fund new oil expansion. Banks who support the oil trade risk overshooting the carbon budget and financing corruption.” Angeline Robertson of Stand.earth in a Responsible Investor op-ed in March 2021 https://www.responsible-investor.com/articles/focusing-on-green-financial-mechanisms-is-important-but-it-s-even-more-imp ortant-we-dismantle-others
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EUROPEAN BANK EXITS | April 2021
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-natixis-stop-financing-trade-ecu adorian-crude-oil-2021-04-16/
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EUROPEAN BANK EXIT | August 2021
https://www.stand.earth/latest/forest-conservation/amazon-forest-protection/europe an-bank-intesa-commits-exclude-amazon-oil
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80X25 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH | IUCN September 2021
https://www.reuters.com/article/global-biodiversity-amazon-idAFL4N2Q536L
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/08/marseille-summit-indigenous-pe ople-best-keepers-of-their-lands-aoe
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80X25 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH | IUCN September 2021
https://grist.org/accountability/after-decades-of-waiting-indigenous-peoples-are-finally-getting-a-say-in-global-con servation-policy/
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80X25 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH | IUCN September 2021
https://news.trust.org/item/20210826225951-zm9ym/
https://www.laprensalatina.com/indigenous-groups-urge-protection-status-for-80-of-the-amazon/
https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/join-us-for-the-amazon-indigenous-leaders-tell-iucn-in-push-for-protection/
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210905-conservation-meet-mulls-plan-toprotect-80-of-amazon
https://www.politico.eu/article/biodiversity-indigenous-people-cop15/
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80X25 MOTION PASSES | IUCN September 2021
https://news.trust.org/item/20210910181455-j3wia/
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