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ECSP Weekly Watch | June 24 – 28
›A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program
Renewable Energy Needs a Social Vision (Mongabay)
The Zapotec of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec have accused energy giant EDF (Électricité de France) of causing human rights abuses while building wind farms in Oaxaca state. They also claim the company intimidated and harassed social movements who opposed this construction on their ancestral lands. The Zapotec are indigenous peoples of Mexico who call themselves Bën Za or “The People”—and after three years of struggle and stalling tactics by EDF’s legal representatives, French courts have authorized their civil case filing at last.
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ECSP Weekly Watch | June 17 – 21
›A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program
Brazil Joins the Rare Earth Minerals Race to Curb Chinese Dominance (Reuters)
Brazil has the world’s third-largest reserves of rare earth minerals. Yet China dominates that market, accounting for 95% of global production. The mining giant is taking steps aims to break this supply chain dominance by creating a robust rare earth industry of its own. The country’s first rare earths mine, Serra Verde, began commercial production in 2024.
Neeraja Kulkarni is a Staff Assistant Intern with the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center. She holds a Master of Global Affairs from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she specialized in international development and environmental policy. Neeraja previously worked in India as a qualitative researcher on issues related to public health, gender, and renewable energy across India for both non-profit and private sector clients. In the Summer of 2023, she was awarded the Tufts Elephant Alliance Grant to research Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) in Eastern Ethiopia. Her research interests lie the intersection of critical minerals, human security, and international development toward an equitable energy transition.