Call for an end to the proliferation of extractivist for an end to the proliferation of extractivist activities and systematic human rights violations against indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in Colombian territory - we call on member states and the UN to support and act immediately
Mr. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General
Ms. Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mr. Ian Fry, UN Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Human Rights in the Context of
Climate Change
Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Mr. Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany
Mr. Iván Duque Márquez, President of the Republic of Colombia
Berlin, 4th. May 2022
As civil society networks, collectives, and non-governmental organizations committed to the defence of human rights and the environment, we strongly reject the threat to the fulfilment of the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment of the Wayuu indigenous territory in La Guajira, Colombia, as well as condemn coal mining as a latent threat to limit global warming below 1.5°C.
On April 6, 2022, it was agreed to increase imports of Colombian coal to Germany in response to the sanctions imposed on Russia in the current context of the war in Ukraine. This allows Germany to partially replace its demand for Russian coal by increasing exploration and exploitation in the Wayuu indigenous territory. The growing demand for Colombian coal gives a new boost to El Cerrejón, Latin America's largest coal mine, which announced last year its closure due to low demand for the material. However, it now plans to increase its production to meet, among other things, German demand for the material. On the same day of the agreement between the two heads of state, El Cerrejón received permission from the Colombian government to divert the Bruno stream and mine the ore lying in its riverbed.
Historically, the Bruno stream has not only been a source of water and cultural and spiritual well-being for the indigenous and Afrodescendant communities living in the area but is also considered a biological corridor between Perijá and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. These communities have already experienced permanent and irreversible loss and damages to their livelihoods, homes and territory, as well as loss of culture, identity and biodiversity, which cannot be quantified in monetary terms. The expansion of the mining frontier will lead the La Guajira-Cesar mining corridor to an environmental and public health crisis, as the emission of particulate matter into the air will increase above the levels permitted by national legislation and international standards.
The most recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been clear in corroborating that current development challenges that cause high vulnerability are influenced by historical and persistent patterns of inequity, especially for many indigenous peoples, Afrodescendants and local communities. These latest reports recognize the value of diverse forms of knowledge, such as scientific knowledge, as well as indigenous knowledge and local knowledge in understanding and assessing climate adaptation processes and actions to reduce the risks of human-induced climate change.
We stand in solidarity with the leaders and their families, victims of violence and human rights violations, and demand that the necessary and urgent measures be adopted for the protection of their lives and physical integrity. Solidarity with Colombia's indigenous and Afrodescendant communities requires international attention and pressure so that their concerns, essential to ensure the desired peace and sustainability, are heard and thus, an agreement is reached to end the current social and environmental conflict.
Therefore, several organizations are calling on the German and Colombian governments and the international community to:
Rapid and fair phase-out of fossil fuels to limit global warming to below 1.5°
The IPCC's central message is very clear: human influence on climate is unequivocal, unprecedented and irreversible. It states that we have 30 months to make the required changes in production and consumption patterns before we enter into major chaos. Continuing with the indiscriminate exploitation of indigenous and Afrodescendant territories to promote a fossil fuel-based economy is not the path that preserves the possibility of limiting warming to 1.5°C. If we want to avoid catastrophic damage to the climate system, nature, and society, we need to immediately stop the exploration, investment and extraction of fossil fuels and replace these sources with distributed and sustainably generated renewable energies. It is imperative that the German government meets its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets not only domestically but also in the international context.
Take on historical polluting responsibilities compounded by decades of deliberate tactics by the fossil fuel industry.
This is a call to the German government to face up to the historical and current responsibilities to the indigenous and Afrodescendant communities in Colombian territory who have experienced the consequences of coal extraction in their homeland to power the unsustainable energy system in Germany. The resulting climate, social and economic crisis is affecting first and hardest those people who have not contributed to the deterioration of the ecosystems they inhabit. Civil society calls for adequate reparation of the social and ecological damage caused, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities under the framework of climate justice.
Guaranteeing the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment
The decisions taken on the proliferation of extractive activities in La Guajira and the deviation of the Bruno stream were not taken in common agreement with the Wayuu indigenous and Afrodescendant communities of the territory. This, coupled with the increasing patterns of threats, harassment, persecution, and discrediting campaigns against community leaders, puts the integrity of the people and ecosystems in the area at high risk. A just transition must begin with the protection of social and environmental defenders and activists.
Solidarity with the people in Ukraine should not come at the expense of the Wayuu indigenous Peoples and Afrodescendant communities in Colombia. It is time for countries to show leadership with concrete actions for peace and a sustainable future for all people - within the European Union, in Colombia, in all regions.
It is now or never!
The following organizations endorse:
Germany
1. Women Engage for a Common Future
2. Unidas por la Paz Alemania
3. Ökumenisches Büro für Frieden und Gerechtigkeit e.V.
4. Aluna Minga e.V
5. Fridays For Future
6. Kolumbienkampagne Berlin
7. COLPAZ Bonn
8. kolko - Menschenrechte für Kolumbien e. V.
9. Oigo Paz e.V., Alemania
10. MISEREOR
11. Caleidoscopio Latino Cultural, Potsdam
12. Bloque Lationoamericano Berlín
13. Förderverein Lernen Wissen Leben - soziale Vernetzung Deutschland Kolumbien
e. V.
14. Galería Wildpalms
15. Was ist los Kolumbien
16. Miranda, iniciativa estudiantil de Frankfurt am Main
17. CAL - Colectivo Anticolonial Latinoamericano, Frankfurt am Main
18. Bloque Latoniamericano Berlín
19. Colombianxs En Freiburg - Colectivo la Olla
20. FAU Erlangen
21. Hfm Nürnberg
22. Foro America Latina de Berlin
23. FIAN Alemania
24. Patria Boba Münster
25. Red Colombia Rhein-Main
26. Sol Fraktal
27. Deutsch-palästinensische Gesellschaft
28. Wissenskulturen e.V.
29. Agenda Consult GmbH
30. Black Earth Kollektiv Berlin
31. Conuco
32. Decolonial Philosophy
33. FIAN International
34. Groots Consulting
35. Front of Anti Colonial/Capitalist/Cistem Queers
36. Klimabündnis Niederrhein
Colombia
37. Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo - CAJAR
38. Pensamiento y Acción Social (PAS)
39. Tierra Poderosa, Bogotá
40. Juntanza de Mujeres de Cali
41. DEACHE
42. Sin Olvido
43. Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz
44. Somos Génesis Red
45. Asociación Genaro Sanchez, Pueblo Kokonuko - CRIC
46. Fundación Chasquis
47. Colectivo Sur Cacarica
48. AGROSOLIDARIA
49. Asociación Cusiana Ecosolidaria
50. Corporación ECATE
51. Corporación trabajadores por la tierra
52. Corporación Colectivos de Abogados Suyana Cali y Buga
53. Movimiento nacional de víctimas de corporaciones multinacionales
54. Asociación UPPAA - Unión para la protección animal y ambiental, Pereira
55. Nube de ideas investigación educativa
56. Movimiento Somos Más
57. JAC barrio Santiago
58. MOVICE Meta
59. Eficiencia energética
60. Semillero de Investigación en Transición Energética de la Universidad del Magdalena
61. Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudof Steiner
62. Fundacion Barranquilla+20
63. ISS
64. Asosciacion de Sindicalistas de Emcali ASOSIEMCALI
65. FUERZA NACIONAL MAGISTERIAL FUNAMA
66. Aspu
67. Censat Agua Viva - Amigos de la Tierra Colombia
68. Fundacion Drecca
Argentina
69. Defendamos la Paz Argentina
70. Fundacion Plurales
Bangladesh
71. Bangladesh Indigenous Women's Network
Belgium
72. Nexus Human Rights - BRUXELLES
Burundi
73. SFBSP-Burundi
Brasil
74. Agenda Colombia
75. Núcleo de Pesquisa em Gênero e Economia NPGE
Canada
76. FIV Canadá
Chile
77. Raíces de Resistencia
78. Defendamos La Paz
79. Invisibles Por La Paz
Czech Republic
80. Limity jsme my, z.s.
Denmark
81. Colombia Solidarity Denmark
82. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
Ghana
83. Abibinsroma Foundation
Honduras
84. Instituto para el Futuro Común Amerindio IFCA Kenya
85. Hope for Kenya Slum Adolescents Initiative
86. Tarumbeta Radio
87. Upeo community justice center
88. Oxfam Kenya
Spain
89. CARRERS DEL MÓN - DRETS HUMANS D’ ELX- ESPANYA
90. Asociación Cultural, Social y Empresarial de Hispanoamericanos en Jávea y Valencia
91. Comité de Solidaridad con América Latina (COSAL) Xixon
92. Asociación Astur Cubana Bartolomé de las Casas Gijón
93. Asociación Pueblo y Dignidad Asturias
94. Corriente Sindical de Izquierda de Asturias
95. CEDSALA (Centro de Documentación y Solidaridad con América Latina y África), València
96. COSAL (Comité de solidaridad con América Latina) Asturias
97. Perifèries-País Valencià
98. Reds (Red de solidaridad para la transformación social) Barcelona
99. SOLdePAZ-Pachakuti Asturias
100. Colectivo de Colombianos/as Refugiados/as en Asturias
101. Programa Asturiano de atención a víctimas de la Violencia en Colombia
102. Comisión Ética Internacional por la Verdad - CEIV-Madrid
103. Colectivo Vida Paz y Justicia
104. Asociación de Solidaridad con Colombia KATIO
105. Comité de Solidaridad Internacionalista de Zaragoza
106. Colectiva de Mujeres Refugiadas, Exiliadas y Migradas
107. Asociación Freytter Romero Bilbao
108. Oxfam España
109. Jovenes Feministas Cardedeu
110. Centro para el Derecho Ambiental Internacional
111. Indigenous Environmental Network
112. Center for International Environmental Law
113. Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)
114. GAWI
115. Gender Action
116. San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility
117. Stony Brook University
118. Global African Workers Institute
119. International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE)
120. School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University
121. Washington Office on Latin America
France
122. Reacción Revista Digital París
123. La DCCAT - La Diaspora Culturelle Colombienne à Tours
India
124. Team Swachh Kalyani Nagar, Pune
International
125. Oxfam
126. Vamos por los Derechos Internacional
127. Campaña Let’s Defend Colombia
128. Equipo Claretiano ante la ONU
129. Defendamos la Paz Internacional
130. Congreso de los Pueblos - Europa
131. PDAI
132. Fossil Fuel Treaty Campaign
133. Alianza Global ConVida20
134. Servicio Internacional Cristiano de Solidaridad con los Pueblos de América Latina - Sicsal - Oscar Arnulfo Romero Internacional
135. Comisión de Crisis Climática de Convida20 - Internacional
136. EsDePolitologos
137. Environmental Justice Foundation
138. Red Antimilitarista de América Latina y el Caribe
Italy
139. Associazione Jambo- Fidenza
140. Rete Italiana Colombia Vive
Mexico
141. Servicios para una Educación Alternativa EDUCA A.C. Oaxaca
142. Colectivo por La Paz en Colombia desde México COLPAZ
143. Campaign of Campaigns
Nigeria
144. Young Professionals in Policy & Development (YouPaD)
145. The Netherlands
146. Citizen Diplomacy, Países Bajos
147. Cinema Colombiano
148. INLW and NGO
Peru
149. Water Justice and Gender
United Kingdom
150. Stamp Out Poverty
151. WILPF
Senegal
152. RECODEFSenegal
Switzerland
153. Colombia Humana Suiza
154. Acciones Internacionales
155. ask! - Arbeitsgruppe Schweiz-Kolumbien
156. FIST Mujeres Migrantes internacionalistas solidarias en Zurich Suiza
157. Radio Lora
158. Assoc. int pour la paix de Colombie et le monde AIPAZCOMUN
Sweden
159. Organización Aluna
160. Socialdemocrata
Togo
161. ITUC-Africa
Uganda
162. Community Transformation Foundation Network (COTFONE)
163. Global Learning for Sustainability
Zimbabwe
164. South Feminist Futures
