Our topics
Our areas of work are air pollution, river protection, toxic substances, waste and plastics, public participation and protection of activists. Our long-term objectives are to promote less waste and hazardous substances, the natural vitality of rivers and a diverse natural environment, and citizens' rights to participate in decision-making about their environment.
Besides supporting local communities and dealing with specific cases, we actively participate in international negotiations of the Aarhus Convention and four conventions addressing toxic pollution and chemicals (Stockholm, Basel, Rotterdam, Minamata).
Some of our successes worldwide:
- International (2020): our reports on the contamination of products with legacy toxic substances entering production via recycled plastics from e-waste and used vehicles resulted in a withdrawal of exemptions in international and European legislation for further use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) found mostly in recycled plastics
- Thailand (2020): we helped several Thai communities win disputes with polluting companies and factories
- Belarus, Ukraine (since 2020): in cooperation with local organizations we are developing civic air pollution monitoring
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (2019, 2020): we helped the springs of the Sana River attain natural monument status and proposed the Declaration on the Protection of the Rivers of the Western Balkans, which has been signed by dozens of organizations and adopted by the parliaments
- Ghana (2019): our report on dioxins in eggs from Ghana, which was reported on in media around the world, has brought important evidence about the impact of waste exports on the food chain and human health, and helped persuade delegates to the Basel Convention to tighten the regulation of international trade in waste
- Kazakhstan (2015): more than fifteen thousand people signed a petition that we supported, helping to bring a halt to devastating investment threatening the population of snow leopards
- Southeast Asia (2014): our measurements of the lead content in paints helped to introduce legislative limits in Nepal and the Philippines, and for other countries of Southeast Asia to at least switch to lead-free pigments
- China (2014): we assisted in forming a network of NGOs and groups of citizens affected by industrial pollution, which began exchanging information and cooperating
- Armenia (2010): along with local partners we discovered a large illegal DDT warehouse which the government had secured against leaks
- Czechia (2009): our work contributed to the listing of a number of valuable natural sites in the Natura 2000 list
- Czechia (2004): our campaign helped develop a strong monitoring and reporting system in Czechia that makes big polluters report their data on emissions
- Czechia (since 2001): we are protecting the last wild section of a wild river in central Europe - the Elbe River - from the construction of dams and hydropower plants close to the border with Germany
