During the final weeks of April, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the most important gathering of representatives of Indigenous Peoples, was held in New York.
We are living through a particularly delicate period for Indigenous Peoples: climate change, greenwashing practices, extractive activities, the rapid development of artificial intelligence, and the growing number of conflicts and increased militarisation risk exacerbating the neglect of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Indigenous Peoples’ rights are already undermined by climate change and the legacies of colonialism, while ecological degradation, also caused by militarisation, makes a significant contribution to depriving Indigenous communities of their lands.
During the forum, the need to consider the needs of Indigenous Peoples holistically was highlighted. According to Geoffrey Roth, former Vice-President of the Forum, “you cannot separate human health from the health of the environment, or from our culture or our language”.
For instance, Roth stressed the importance of respecting Indigenous midwifery practices, which are often banned. Many women have been forced to give birth in Western healthcare facilities, where they have faced discrimination and been subjected to procedures to which they had not consented.
Indigenous Peoples’ cultures and languages, besides being at risk of increasing marginalisation, are also threatened by artificial intelligence. While AI could represent an interesting tool, for example for language preservation, it can also be used by technology companies to appropriate Indigenous cultures and languages and even collect genetic data from Indigenous people.
Another major threat to Indigenous Peoples’ rights comes from livestock farming and extraction projects. In response to these threats, a demonstration was held in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of April, attended by thousands of Indigenous people as part of the “Free Land Encampment”, the largest annual mobilisation of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil.
The protests, aimed primarily at major companies profiting from extraction projects, also seek to challenge the ambivalent stance of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who presents himself as one of the strongest advocates for environmental and Indigenous rights, but has often supported invasive projects promoted by the oil industry. In Brazil, any extraction activity on Indigenous lands requires Congressional approval before it can be implemented. However, according to lawyer Renata Vieira, Congress includes several representatives of the agribusiness sector, which is arguably the most invasive force when it comes to Brazilian Indigenous lands. This year, Brazilian Indigenous Peoples achieved a historic and symbolic victory on this front: through their protests, they managed in February to block the implementation of a project by US giant Cargill aimed at privatising river transport on several waterways in order to facilitate the soybean trade. The project, which would have been highly damaging to Indigenous communities and their lands, had initially been endorsed by President da Silva through a decree.
Beyond the oil industry, the renewable energy and energy transition sectors also often overlook the fact that sustainable development can only truly be sustainable if it is based on respect for marginalised communities, including Indigenous Peoples. During an energy transition conference held in Santa Maria, Colombia, in April, it was highlighted that the energy transition is also being driven by mechanisms of profit and exploitation. In particular, exploration activities in the Amazon have been encouraged in search of strategic minerals that are essential to renewable energy systems. As Australian activist Larissa Baldwin Roberts pointed out, “we cannot continue to accept a system that undermines our concerns, our situation and our internationally recognised collective rights in order to initiate a new form of colonialism disguised as a sustainable transition”.
The rights of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America are therefore currently under threat on several fronts: from the oil industry to the renewable energy sector, and now also from artificial intelligence. It is therefore important to bear in mind that sustainable development is incompatible with a system that marginalises and endangers Indigenous Peoples’ cultures and lands, and ultimately their very existence.
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