IPLCs around the world are working to promote and sustain low-impact forms of consumption and production, both at the international level and locally. Internationally, IPLCs have played and continue to play an important role in campaigns to reform unsustainable supply chains. Locally, many IPLCs have developed low-impact land use plans for their own territories, rooted in deep-seated belief systems concerning the spiritual links between land, life and nature. The following sections give further details on each of these kinds of contribution. Community contributions to actions and pledges to improve the unsustainable commodity industry Demand-side campaigns and consumer-driven boycotts have increased the pressure on producers to reform unsustainable supply chains, and by 2015, seven% of companies with the greatest influence over tropical deforestation had made full, crosscommodity commitments on deforestation.41 For example, multinational organisations including Nestl. and Unilever have changed their palm oil sourcing policies to protect rainforests and peatlands. Communities can play a central role in bringing about such pledges (see also “Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia: indigenous Dayak try to save forest, river and lake habitats under threat from palm oil expansion” in Target 5). In May 2016, for example a delegation of indigenous and community leaders gave testimonies on the impacts of the palm oil industry to the European Parliament and to relevant EU officials, emphasising the urgent need for strong binding regulations of supply chains. A representative stated: “It is not enough to create voluntary certification schemes while we continue to suffer land grabs and the ongoing violation of human rights.” Communities have also been working together with civil society allies to use grievance procedures related to existing sustainability standards in order to identify and challenge company violations. An example is the certification system for sustainable palm oil that serves to assure customers that its production has not caused harm to the environment or society. However, there are IPLCs who are reporting that these standards are not fully implemented and who experience unlawful land acquisition, negative impacts and escalating land conflicts over palm oil. Promotion and use of sustainable models of consumption and production and community land use plans For some IPLCs, sustainable consumption and production is rooted in respect of the rights of Mother Earth. The Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth, adopted at the World People’s Conference on Climate Change in Cochabamba in 2010, states: “We are all part of Mother Earth and Mother Earth has inherent rights such as the right to life, the right to regenerate its bio-capacity and continue its vital cycles, maintaining its integrity as a self-regulating and interrelated being”. The Shillong Declaration, an outcome of the Indigenous Terra Madre event in Shillong, Meghalaya, North East India in 2015 (see also case study “The Indigenous Terra Madre 2015” under Target 1), has joined with a larger movement that aims to transform dominant production and consumption models and offer alternative or complementary solutions. It states: “Our initiatives on food sovereignty, tenurial security and knowledge safeguarding are part of a larger movement to fundamentally transform the nature of economic and political systems away from those dominated by the state or private corporations, and towards community-centred, ecologically sustainable, socially just, and economically equitable alternative models of human and planetary wellbeing.” Some other examples of IPLC initiatives and approaches for sustainable consumption and production are as follows:
- In Latin America, the indigenous cosmovision of “living well” (Buen vivir, Sumaq Kasway) promotes the healthy flourishing of all in harmony with nature and calls for economic “de-growth” and increased environmental awareness.
- For the Maori in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the reverence for creation as a whole, the kinship of all things and responsibility for all living things and natural resources are key principles driving the emergence of an alternative model of development and wellbeing.
- In Canada, the Dehcho First Nations’ Land Use Planning Committee oversees the development of a comprehensive land use plan, guided by respect for the land as understood by the Dehcho elders, and by the principles of sustainable development. Once approved, the Land Use Plan will provide legally binding directions to decision-makers and regulatory agencies.
- In Colombia, the Misak people have created a “Plan de Vida” (Plan of Life) to protect all life in their territory, based on oral tradition and a deep spiritual link to Mother Nature (see case study “Children of the water: Plan de Vida (Life Plan) of the Misak people, Colombia”).
