Does Rio mark an End to the “Sustainability” Road?
One leading Indian environmentalist, greeting the final declaration of the Earth Summit, asked why it had been “about the future we do not want?” Of particular concern to many civil society attenders at the Earth Summit were paragraphs in its draft text which sought to equate mining with “sustainability”. This text “acknowledge[s] that minerals and metals make a major contribution to the world economy and modern societies”, claiming that mining “offers the opportunity to catalyze broad-based economic development, reduce poverty and assist countries in meeting internationally agreed development goals…” Even if this were true in practice, the document neglected any mention of the rights of land-based peoples to determine how (or whether) minerals in their territories are used.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11775.
Indigenous Peoples challenge Rio+20
More than five hundred Indigenous delegates gathered at an encampment outside Rio de Janeiro called Kari-Oca II. In their statement of 17 June, they made a plea to the rest of the world: “We invite all of civil society to protect and promote our rights and worldviews and respect natural law, our spiritualities and cultures and our values of reciprocity, harmony with nature, solidarity, and collectivity. Caring and sharing, among other values, are crucial in bringing about a more just, equitable and sustainable world.”
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11770.
Human rights organisations address Earth Summit leaders
Global Witness claims that killings of campaigners and journalists, committed to protection of the world’s natural resources, has risen dramatically over the past three years. The UK-based organisation called on leaders gathered at the Rio Earth Summit to ” set up systems to monitor and counter the rising violence, which in many cases involves governments and foreign corporations, and to reduce the consumption pressures that are driving development into remote areas.” In a joint statement, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also pointed out that few delegates who attended the first Earth Summit in 1992 “have followed the Rio Principles, and progress on environmental issues has been limited.” The two groups specifically condemn “human rights abuses in the context of infrastructure projects pursued in the name of development, the operation of extractive industries that have pushed indigenous peoples off their traditional lands, and development policies that have resulted in forced evictions of some of the poorest people.”
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11772.