Watch the video featuring the village chief and community members denouncing Zedtee's encroachment: www.youtube.com/shorts/wdkgQ...

This report complements our previous release calling on the EU to benchmark Sarawak as a high risk jurisdiction under the classification of the EU Deforestation Free Products Regulation - EUDR. The European Council is deliberating on benchmarking this week and next. www.hrw.org/news/2024/09...

The bottom line: The international trade of wood products tainted by human rights abuses and deforestation is a shared responsibility between sellers and buyers. They both need to clean up supply chains, protect rights, and safeguard nature. Read our report: www.hrw.org/news/2025/05...

We obtained government trade data that shows France, the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States are major destinations for Sarawak's wood products, including several products manufactured and exported by Shin Yang.

We found Zedtee's timber licenses did not meet Sarawak's own laws and policies. Instead of holding Zedtee accountable, the Sarawak government threatened to demolish the village and arrest Indigenous protesters who denounced the abuse.

The 2015 encyclical letter: lnkd.in/eSy_aPC8

The lesser known 2023 encyclical letter on climate change: lnkd.in/evwZVpid

Can only hope that Pope Francis' successor will honor and further the intention of these encyclical letters.

In keeping with Pope Francis’ style, some statements are profoundly groundbreaking for the Catholic Church even as he sought to inscribe them in a continuum of tradition. Prof Klein did an excellent essay that is worth reading to fully appreciate the late Pope’s climate leadership. lnkd.in/eBJCY9Gg

The Pope rejects consumerism, urges us to realize technology will not solve our ‘confrontational’ relationship to nature, and even condemns eco-fascism (i.e. the kind that justifies forcibly evicting people from their land to create nature parks.)

Keen observers may ask: what about MSPO? Didn't that prohibit conversion to oil palm plantations after 2019? You're right. But the federal government couldn't enforce it because land issues are under the jurisdiction of states. That's what makes Sarawak's announcement so meaningful.

I've been working on Sarawak with amazing partners SAVE Rivers, KERUAN, RimbaWatch, The Borneo Project and Bruno Manser Fonds. Our message: unless meaningful reforms are implemented, Sarawak should be considered high risk under the EU anti-deforestation regulation.

www.hrw.org/news/2024/09...

Across the archipelago, millions of hectares already lie fallow. Why not use those instead? www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...