Cali, 23 October 2024
In the framework of COP16 in Cali, the campaign Defend Jujuy: No to the energy transition without rights (jujuy.landrightsnow.org), organised by Land Rights Now, the National Land Coalition Argentina and ILC Latin America and the Caribbean (ILC LAC), seeks to highlight the serious consequences of lithium mining on indigenous communities and the environment in Jujuy, Argentina.
In addition to environmental concerns, the rights of Jujuy’s Indigenous Peoples are being seriously threatened by a recent constitutional reform in the province, which limits the ability of communities to defend their lands and resources. This reform attempts to facilitate the advancement of extractive projects without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous communities, which generated strong protests for the protection of their territorial rights. This campaign also seeks to denounce the effects of this reform on the life and autonomy of the communities in the territory.
The energy transition is crucial, but it cannot come at the expense of the lives and land rights of Indigenous Peoples. This campaign aims to emphasize the need for a just energy transition—one that upholds human rights, ensures the active participation of affected communities, and enforces the principles of free, prior, and informed consent for those directly impacted. Only through these measures can we achieve a truly sustainable and equitable future.
During COP16, Débora Sajama, a well-known Indigenous leader from Jujuy, is calling for the inclusion and participation of communities in decisions related to mining extraction projects, and demanding an approach that does not put their livelihoods and rights at risk.
‘To this day we are charged for defending the land and our rights. This is not a sin and it is not illegal, it is the right thing to do. We love the place where we live. Unfortunately, Argentina does not have a community property law, and we are fighting for that,‘ said Sajama at the screening of the documentary ’Lithium: what’s behind the reform” on 22 October as part of the event “Women on the front line: a regional agenda for biodiversity and land rights”.
The Defend Jujuy campaign calls on the delegates of the 196 member states of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at COP16 and the international community to commit to an approach that prioritises the participation of indigenous peoples in mining projects, ensuring that the energy transition does not reproduce the same extractivist dynamics and prioritises land rights.
For more information, visit jujuy.landrightsnow.org.
Press contacts:
Amanda Segnini: a.bentacorsegnini@landcoalition.org +5511956551618
Nicolás Avellaneda: plataforma.dtt@landcoalition.info +54 9 3515303028
Photos: CNT Argentina/Débora Cerruti
