A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program 

Deforestation and Flooding Turns Fallen Timber into Projectiles in Indonesia (The New York Times) 

When Cyclone Senyar struck in late November, its death toll numbered 800 people across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The Indonesian island of Sumatra saw a particular sort of damage as the storm unleashed sixteen inches of rain in parts of the island, wiped out four villages, and triggered flash floods and landslides. Decades of razing and converting natural forests into palm oil plantations, pulpwood farms, and gold mines drastically increased the region’s vulnerability to floods and landslides to the point that timber was transformed into projectiles that destroyed residences and infrastructure.  

Indonesia’s meteorology agency had alerted local authorities eight days before the cyclone formed, and then issued subsequent warnings, Yet many residents in the region reported  receiving no early warning before floodwaters entered their homes. Indonesia’s Environment Minister also has acknowledged the disaster cannot be attributed to natural causes alone, and he highlight  the fact that the tens of thousands of hectares of forests disappeared from Aceh, West Sumatra, and North Sumatra provinces.  

READ | A Decade of Progress on Palm Oil Deforestation at Risk in Indonesia 

Veto on Brazil’s “Devastation Bill” Guts Environmental Licensing (Mongabay) 

Brazil’s Congress has overturned President Lula’s veto of the so-called “devastation bill,” which  guts numerous environmental licensing protections. Many provisions within the legislation will disproportionately impact Indigenous communities, while also further enabling illegal deforestation and land grabbing. The Socioenvironmental Institute (a civil society organization in Brazil) reports that the new law excludes 32.6% of all Indigenous territories and 80% of Quilombola communities from impact studies that were previously required for environmental licensing. Yet another Lula veto overturned by the legislature permits farms that illegally deforested or grabbed land to operate and sell products without environmental licenses. 

In coming days, Brazil’s Congress will seek to overturn seven remaining Lula vetoes, including a contentious clause that allows an estimated 90% of medium-impact businesses to “self-license” by automatically producing environmental licenses via an online form. Meanwhile, the administration is considering legal challenges to the legislature’s actions on the grounds that these laws violate Article 225 of Brazil’s Federal Constitution, which guarantees citizens’ right to a healthy environment. 

READ | Mining Giant Behind Deadly Dam Collapse Took Lax Approach to Corporate Responsibility 

A US and EU-Funded Critical Minerals Project Could Displace Thousands In the DRC. (The Guardian) 

A new report by Global Witness asserts that the Lobito Corridor project—which has received EU and US funding—will likely displace up to 6,500 residents in the DRC. The initiative seeks to upgrade the colonial-era Benguela railway from the mining city of Kolwezi to Angola’s coast in order to facilitate the export of minerals like copper and cobalt for green energy technologies. (The proposed Angola section will require $4.5 billion in funding.) Yet the prospect of 1,200 buildings being placed at risk of demolition will likely cost thousands of residents their homes,   primarily in Kolwezi’s poorest neighborhood where residents built homes and businesses close to railway tracks.   

Many of the residents who will be affected the project bought land from vendors who may not have owned it or from railway workers who received plots from SNCC, the DRC state railway company. Despite having lived there without interference for 30 years, Lualaba province’s land affairs minister has labeled residents inside the initiative’s buffer zone as “illegals.” Kolwezi residents told Global Witness they fear forcible eviction without compensation, citing knowledge of houses demolished without payment for roads and mines. An EU spokesperson confirmed the project is still at an early stage with environmental and social impact assessments underway that will apply the highest social and environmental standards.

READ | Low-Carbon Transitions: A Spur (and a Solution) to Colonial Violence?