Chahid El Hafed (Sahrawi Refugee Camps) 25 July 2026 (SPS) – Mahfoud Bachri, representing the International Institute for Nonviolent Action (NOVACT) and Albert Giralt, representing the Catalan Association of Friends of the Sahrawi People (ACAPS) stressed that international civil society has become one of the leading actors in confronting the economic dimensions of Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara through legal advocacy, documentation, litigation, and pressure on companies involved in the exploitation of the Territory's natural resources.
Their remarks came during a joint presentation entitled "International Advocacy on Natural Resources: The Role of Civil Society in Supporting Claims for Sovereignty over Natural Resources and Denouncing the Presence of Companies," delivered as part of the international Conference "The Legal Battle and the Sahrawi People's Permanent Sovereignty over Their Natural Resources," held on Saturday at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Sahrawi Republic in Chahid El Hafed.
The speakers explained that international civil society, including non-governmental organizations, trade unions, solidarity movements, academic researchers, lawyers, and journalists, has in recent years, succeeded in bringing the issue of the plunder of Western Sahara's natural resources to the forefront of the agenda of international courts, parliaments, and institutions.
This has been achieved through comprehensive strategies combining documentation, legal advocacy, litigation, public awareness campaigns, and media engagement.
In this context, they highlighted the importance of field documentation, including investigations into corporate activities, mapping investments, tracking vessels transporting phosphate and fish, and monitoring renewable energy projects, describing these as essential tools for building legal cases supported by solid evidence.
The presentation also reviewed a number of landmark legal precedents, including cases brought by Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) and the Western Sahara Campaign UK, which have contributed to reinforcing the legal principles recognizing Western Sahara's separate and distinct legal status and the Sahrawi people's rights over their natural resources.
The speakers further outlined the role played by WSRW in publishing annual reports on phosphate exports, monitoring renewable energy projects, investigating corporate activities, maintaining maritime shipping databases, and engaging with investors and policymakers to strengthen efforts to hold those involved in the exploitation of Sahrawi resources accountable.
The presentation noted that international civil society campaigns have produced tangible results, leading several foreign companies to withdraw from activities related to phosphate imports, fisheries agreements, oil exploration, infrastructure projects, and renewable energy developments in Western Sahara.
It also pointed to the growing use of financial pressure strategies targeting pension funds, banks, and insurance companies to encourage them to divest from projects linked to the occupation.
The speakers further addressed the role of the media, investigative journalism, documentaries, conferences, academic activities, and social media campaigns in internationalizing the issue of Western Sahara's natural resources and bringing it into the global public debate, thereby raising awareness of the risks associated with the exploitation of the Territory's resources without the consent of its people.
A significant part of the presentation focused on "green colonialism" and "greenwashing," with the speakers arguing that the Moroccan occupation is using renewable energy and green hydrogen projects to consolidate its control over the Territory while portraying the exploitation of its natural resources as environmentally sustainable, despite the absence of the Sahrawi people's consent.
They reviewed the main wind, solar, and green hydrogen projects operating or planned in the occupied Territory, warning of their legal, political, and environmental implications.
These projects, the presentation further stresses, are intended to consolidate the occupation, facilitate the plunder of natural resources, undermine efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement, encourage the transfer of settlers into the Territory, appropriate land, damage ecosystems, deplete water resources, and intensify restrictions on Sahrawi human rights defenders.
In concluding their presentation, Mahfoud Bachri and Albert Giralt called for continued mobilization of international civil society, stronger coordination among human rights organizations and solidarity movements, and intensified legal and media action to confront green colonialism and defend the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over their natural resources.
They also commended international campaigns, particularly "Western Sahara Is Not For Sale," and the continued participation of Sahrawi solidarity groups in international climate conferences to highlight the legal and human rights dimensions of the question of Western Sahara. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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