In a historical gathering, over 500 indigenous leaders from all over the world, including the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, held the Indigenous Peoples Global Conference on Rio+20 and Mother Earth, also known as Kari-Oca 2, from June 13-22, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Kari-Oca 2 is  the global indigenous peoples’ parallel activity to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development or UNCSD (Rio+20) which took place from June 20-22, 2012, also in Rio de Janeiro.

 

At least 500 indigenous peoples were halted by the Brazilian military as they marched to the UNCSD meeting to deliver the Kari-Oca 2 Declaration. Photo courtesy of: Hortencia Hidalgo “We came from different parts of the world to forward our concerns on the genuine recognition of our rights as indigenous peoples to self-determined development at a time when world leaders discuss solutions to the current global financial, economic, climatic and environmental crisis in the UNCSD,” said CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget. Kari-Oca 2 was co-organized by the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, Land is Life, Indigenous Environment Network and the Inter-Tribal Committee of Brazil.

On June 21^st, Kari-Oca 2 came out with a strong declaration on the future indigenous peoples want, which outlines indigenous peoples’ demands and the solutions to the present global economic, environmental and climatic crises. This was submitted by Kari-Oca 2 participants to the Director of the Division for Sustainable Development Nikhil Seth, and Gilberto Carvalho, the Chief Minister to the Presidency of Brazil in a march-rally to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) meeting where they were halted by the military and only a few were allowed to go inside.

In the final negotiations of the UNCSD, it came out with an Outcome Document dubbed The Future We Want under the central themes “Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication” and “Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development.”

Among the numerous economic, climatic and environmental concerns tackled in the Outcome Document, mining and other extractive industries are acknowledged as ‘essential’ in implementing sustainable development and poverty eradication especially in underdeveloped countries. The UNCSD Outcome Document states that “..mining offers the opportunity to catalyze broad-based economic development, reduce poverty and assist countries in meeting internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, when managed effectively and properly (Point 227).”

“Presently the underdeveloped countries are controlled by the global capitalist system which is ruled by corporate greed and plunder of natural resources. Under this system, mining and other extractive industries are profit-oriented and do not take into account peoples’ rights and environmental protection. In the Philippines, sustainable mining and other extractive industries is not possible if these remain to be controlled by multi-national corporations with full support by the State,” said Bolinget, explaining further that  under the guise of the Green Economy, capitalists and imperialist powers are again launching an offensive in order to expand the sources of profits in the exploitation of the environment in underdeveloped countries like the Philippines, with the goal of transforming ‘services’ of nature into tradeable units.

“The slogans of sustainable development and poverty eradication are being used in order to expand corporate interests and profit-making opportunities. Over a century of large-scale mining has been operating in Benguet province in the Cordillera, yet Cordillera indigenous peoples remain to be among the poorest and most marginalized sectors of society,” he said.

Also notable in the UNCSD Outcome Document is the non-inclusion of ‘culture’ as one of the pillars of sustainable development which has been lobbied for inclusion by indigenous peoples and civil society groups to the three pillars of sustainable development – social progress, environmental protection and economic growth. And while the Outcome Document recognizes the importance of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, there is no mention of indigenous peoples’ right to Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC).

“Sustainable development is not possible without genuine recognition of our rights as indigenous peoples to FPIC, to our territories and resources, and to our self-determination or our right to freely determine our own course of economic, political and cultural development” said Bolinget.

The Kari-Oca 2 is an historical milestone in the global indigenous peoples’ social movement and solidarity for self-determination and all inherent rights of indigenous peoples.#

Attachments: (The Future We Want): Outcome Document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (pdf format) Kari-Oca II Declaration (pdf format)

 

 

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