Real World Radio interviewed Juliette Renaud, representative of Les Amis de la Terre, France, with reference to this campaign that tries to explain how the world of finance is grabbing natural resources, and the impacts this has on communities, climate and the environment.

This initiative, according to Renaud, is based on two lines of work of the French organization: one on public and private banks and the other on natural resources and forests.

The links between the two seem evident: finance is meddling in the management of nature and one of the clearest expressions of this is the so-called "green-economy", a concept that governments and corporations will aim to establish at the Rio de Janeiro meeting.

“The name may sound good, but we are worried about the processes behind it. Finance involved in the management of resources results in the violations of rights, attacks communities and worsens the climate crisis”, said Renaud, who stated that in Rio+20 it will be key to block the creation of new markets.

According to the activist, environmental issues are not very present in the political agenda in France, and this is why the meeting in Rio represents “an opportunity to open that door”.

The campaign launched by Friends of the Earth France has a clear international focus, among other things because carbon markets opened at European level have global impacts, especially in Southern countries.

A specific case is that of Brazil, where some US companies, among them General Motors, have bought forests in order to compensate the pollution they cause in their country.

“But this results in people displaced from the forests. There are also cases linked with France. A public bank bought lands in the South of France arguing that there are degraded ecosystems and lands. But it is using the money from offset certificates bought by companies that will build airports and highways in other places, thus degrading other ecosystems”, she explained.

In France, as in other countries, just a minority of the population is aware of environmental issues, and according to Renaud there is a long way to go in this area. She set as an example that the strong debate on extractive industries taking place in Latin America for years has just arrived to France, as a consequence of a specific project in that country.

Lastly, Renaud highlighted the strong presence of finance actors in the energy, hydrocarbon and food sectors, and said that on Saturday, June 9th, French organizations and unions will meet to analyze the national situation ahead of Rio+20.