Indigenous Peoples’ message gets through in EU corridors of power

By recognising the need for greater protection for Indigenous Peoples and forest defenders, the European Parliament’s environment committee has added a crucial missing jigsaw piece to the draft regulation on deforestation-free products - now it's up to member states to follow through, writes Nicole Polsterer. 

Nicole Polsterer is the sustainable consumption and production campaigner at the forests and rights NGO, Fern. 

Since 2019, when Jair Bolsonaro became Brazil’s President, an area of the Amazon larger than Belgium has been destroyed, and the destruction shows no sign of abating. 

The link between the Bolsonaro government’s policies – particularly its dismantling of environmental protections - and the ravaging of Brazil’s forests, as well as the rise in attacks against Indigenous Peoples and armed invasions of their land, is clear.  

It is also clear that those countries who import goods – such as soy and beef – that drive deforestation and human rights abuses in Brazil, must share responsibility for it. As the second biggest market for Brazilian soy and a major importer of Brazilian beef, the European Union ranks near the top.

For this reason, the draft Regulation on deforestation-free products, which the European Commission published in November 2021, was a landmark in the fight against deforestation.  

Under it, six commodities – coffee, cocoa, cattle, palm oil, soy, wood - and derived products, will have to undertake due diligence before being placed on the EU market.

Importers and traders will have to establish that the commodities were not produced or grown on land that was deforested or degraded after December 31, 2020 – and that production hasn’t violated the producing country’s laws.  

Serious flaw 

The last point, however, represented a serious flaw in the draft legislation, and one which Fern has been far from alone in highlighting.  

Earlier this year, community leaders of 22 Indigenous organisations from 33 countries – including those living in the world’s two biggest rainforests, the Amazon and the Congo Basin -  wrote an open letter to EU lawmakers, calling for the draft law to be amended so that it includes measures forcing businesses to respect communities’ customary tenure rights, as defined by international human rights standards, rather than national ones. 

This message is now resonating in the EU’s corridors of power. 

At the end of June, EU Environment Ministers adopted their opinion on the Regulation. They acknowledged the importance of upholding international human rights standards, adding references to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other key international texts, and calling on companies to give greater consideration to international human rights standards.  

This week, the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee also listened to the growing chorus of voices calling for Indigenous Peoples and forest defenders to be given greater protection in the Regulation: voting for a proposal which would mean that companies placing products on the EU market would have to respect international standards on customary tenure rights, as well as the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). 

Missing jigsaw piece

Brazil offers an unambiguous example showing why this is the crucial missing jigsaw piece in this Regulation. 

As our partner, Sônia Guajajara of the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (Articulation of Indigenous People of Brazil) (APIB), has pointed out: “Leaving the protection of Indigenous rights in Bolsonaro’s hands is like leaving a fox in charge of a chicken coop.”  

The EU and its citizens must not be complicit in this. 

The onus is now on the European Parliament’s plenary, who will vote in September, to follow the positive lead set by the ENVI Committee, and ensure that the Regulation includes specific measures requiring businesses to follow international laws and standards. The Parliament and the Council will then negotiate to agree on a final compromise position.

They must ensure that companies respect affected communities’ land rights, meaningfully consult with them, and get their FPIC before embarking on activities in their areas.

In doing so, they will have the support of their citizens: a recent poll found that almost nine out of 10 Europeans support strengthening the Regulation to protect Indigenous Peoples' rights.   

Indigenous Peoples, after all, occupy half of the world’s great forests, which store huge amounts of carbon and have the lowest rates of deforestation on the planet.

So, protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples - the world’s best forest custodians – means protecting the planet. 

The EU is on the threshold of achieving a huge milestone in the fight against deforestation. Making businesses abide by international standards and upholding Indigenous Peoples’ land and tenure rights will help it succeed.