Colombia

Reflections on the ruling on carbon credits in the Colombian Amazon, by Censat Agua Viva.

Colombia's Orinoquía region stretches from the foothills of the country's eastern mountain range to the Venezuelan border. This region has historically been associated with the exploitation of rubber, timber, furs and other so-called “natural resources,” to the detriment of ancestral communities. Today, new threats are emerging under the paradigm of conservation, green energy and carbon projects.

Indigenous, peasant, traditional and Afro-descendent peoples from the Amazon region and Central America call organizations and social movements all over the world to endorse this declaration rejecting carbon projects in their territories.

Behind every tree plantation developed for carbon offsets, there are external agents seeking to profit from increased control over the land. And while they all have the same colonial approach, these plantations can vary widely: they can be large-scale monocultures or schemes with smallholder farmers; they can include exotic species or native species; and some of them may even exist on paper only.

Using the argument of “sustainable development”, governments in the Amazon region continue providing incentives for extractivism. In the face of this, indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku vents her thoughts: “What we need is the demarcation of indigenous territories. Enough talk of bioeconomy, of sustainability, when there is violence in the here and now.”

The Amazon region is one of the final frontiers of resistance to capital expansion. This is epitomized by the struggles of social activists such as Chico Mendes, as well as by the presence of most of the earth’s remaining indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. However, different forms of ‘green’ extractivism are currently and increasingly advancing on this territory.

Mocoa is located between the Andean mountains and the Colombian Amazon, in the middle of one of the most important river basins of the country; in this territory, indigenous communities, Afro-Descendants, peasants and settlers coexist. The growing demand for minerals for the “decarbonization” of the world is a threat to this region, where mining companies are trying to move forward with underground copper extraction.

The production of audio-visual tools, videos and podcasts in the Amazon, where Indigenous Peoples talk about their realities and resistance struggles, is increasing.

In the framework of September 21st, International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations, Colombian organizations and movements made a declaration in which they denounce the expansion of large-scale monocultures, and aim to shine light on a problem “that threatens the life, dignity and autonomy of communities.

An article in the news portal Mongabay exposes how six years after complaints were filed against the company Oro Rojo for polluting the rivers, wetlands and air, with its palm oil mill, nothing has changed.

This article outlines the carbon pricing system in Colombia and reveals how mining companies have been using REDD+ to legally avoid paying taxes while claiming ‘carbon neutrality’.

This publication gathers eleven articles that reflect on fundamental and dangerous dimensions of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), the dominant forest policy around the world since 2007.