THE KOTA
KINABALU STATEMENT ON PALM OIL AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
7 February 2020
Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia
We, Indigenous
Peoples and Non-Governmental Organisations from palm oil-producing countries in
Latin America, Africa and South East Asia demand the right to expose the
realities we face in our communities about the impacts of the palm oil sector.
We have gathered here, from Peru,
Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Cameroon, Malaysia,
Indonesia and the Philippines, in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia to share our
experiences with the palm oil sector and its impacts on our communities,
territories and peoples. Together, we want to explore potential reforms in our
countries and the industry internationally so that palm oil production brings
genuine development and not exploitation, deforestation, land-grabbing and
impoverishment.
Yet, while we are gathered here, we
witness representatives of the palm oil industry labelling us in the media as
‘toxic entities’[1]
and condemning our efforts to expose our realities as a ‘black campaign’. We,
representatives of environmental justice, human rights, women’s, youth and
indigenous peoples’ organisations, categorically condemn these statements.
‘We
are citizens of our countries and we have a constitutional right to speak out
and seek justice for our communities’ said Wisdom Adjawlo from Youth Volunteers
for the Environment in Ghana. ‘This attempt to restrict our activities and
muzzle our voices is not only an abuse of our right to freedom of expression
but will lead to worse outcomes for all.’
‘Since when were people protecting
their traditional forests, lands and the environment “toxic?”’ asks Andrew
Aeria from the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Program, Malaysia. ‘Planting
oil palm without the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of indigenous peoples is
toxic to them, their forests and their lands. It’s the pesticides the companies
use that are toxic!’
‘Palm oil companies are destroying
our forests and grabbing our lands with the complicity of government agencies’
said Miguel Guimaraes from the Shipibo people in Peru. ‘We have sought justice through
the local courts, by appeals to government and filing complaints with the RSPO.
Yet, palm oil produced by deforesting our stolen lands is being sold into the
international market by RSPO-member companies, even after our complaints were
found to be valid. ’
‘In Indonesia, deforestation,
peatland clearance and forest fires, much of it caused by oil palm expansion,
has made our country the sixth largest emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide –
that is the scale of the impact. Local communities cannot accept that this
environmental destruction continues’ says Triana Wardani of the Indonesian
women’s mass organisation SERUNI. ‘Palm oil has meant that women have lost
control over their land and natural resources, forcing them and their families
into hardship.'
‘Women are the custodians of our
culture and our lands. Our indigenous women are marching in defence of our
lands and for our right to maintain our ways of life which are being destroyed
by multiple industries including palm oil production’ notes Hernan Payaguaje
from the Secoya people of the Ecuadorean Amazon.
‘In Cameroon, loss of access to
land and forests that are taken over by palm oil companies forces women into
underpaid employment on the oil palm estates, where they are subjected to
sexual harassment and violence. Women labourers don’t even have time for basic
childcare. Local languages and traditions are being lost, and with them the
knowledge of how to live in prosperity in the tropical forests’ reports Carrele
Mawamba from Green Development Advocates in Cameroon. ‘The arrival of the oil
palm plantations has brought sexual harassment, underage marriage and worse’.
‘In Guatemala, the indigenous
Q’eqchi people have already lost much of their lands and now face problems of
pollution and diversion of streams and rivers that deprives them of drinking
water’, explains a representative from the local chapter of Action Aid. ‘We
want that peoples’ rights are respected and that companies respect the law and
their obligations’.
‘Palm Oil is destroying our entire
way of life’ says Krissusandi Gunui of Institut Dayakologi from Indonesian
Borneo. ‘It has not just taken our customary lands but the very basis for our
identities and ways of life. There should be no further expansion so long as
palm oil means land grabbing and dispossession’.
‘Land conflicts are rife in
Indonesia’ affirms Andi Muttaqien from the Indonesian human rights group ELSAM.
‘These disputes are getting worse as land scarcity increases. Many communities
are now forced into stealing palm fruits and even re-occupying small parcels of
land within the plantations to grow vegetables for sale in the local markets.’
‘Migrant workers, who are the
mainstay of the palm oil industry in Malaysia, face huge problems of
exploitation, informal work without contracts or documentation, sub-standard
living conditions and even forced labour’ notes Lanash Thanda of the Sabah Environmental
Protection Association.
‘Companies should respect labour
rights. Providing decent work and decent wages is mandatory to ensure the
quality of life for labourers and their families’, adds a representative of
trade union OPPUK-SERBUNDO.
‘Companies are not criticised for
securing investment from foreign banks, selling their product to foreign
markets, or sending their profits overseas, but international NGOs are vilified
for standing in solidarity with us’, says Geofani from the environmental justice
NGO, Link-AR Borneo. ‘The development and production of biofuels often
intersects with environmental problems, the burning of forests, and the loss of
land, which is financed internationally. The playing field is skewed against
us, so international solidarity is a must. We welcome global efforts to amplify
our voices’.
‘Palm oil is a global commodity.
Until those who have been impacted can get justice nationally and through local
courts, we have to make recourse to international forums to get redress. We
welcome the fact that buyers and manufacturers are now refusing to buy palm oil
that comes from land-grabbing, deforestation and exploitation’ says Nikodemus
Ale of WALHI Kalimantan Barat.
‘All such matters need to be
exposed and addressed by the companies and not brushed under the carpet’ says
Leili Khainur of the grassroots women’s organisation Serumpun in West
Kalimantan. ‘The only ‘black campaign’ in the palm oil sector comes from those
who are trying to shut down public debate. Monocultures have diminished local
economic options. Our focus now is on rebuilding the diversity of local
economies, especially through working with women. They are the real drivers of
local development - they farm rice paddies, tap rubber, grow vegetables, gather
forest products and raise the future generation.’
Listening to the voices of local
communities and smallholders will improve the global industry and the outcomes
for local people. ‘To produce sustainable palm oil, companies and governments
should not just rely on industry standards, but they should focus on building
local smallholders’ capacities and ensure that they are not excluded from the
benefits of palm oil production by the powerful large-scale producers’, notes
Nurbaya Zulhakim from Setara JAMBI from Sumatra, Indonesia.
We also note that the situation is
not all negative, and some companies are making an effort to address these
issues. We note that the RSPO and some certified companies are working to
address corruption. However, it is a systemic problem and is often ignored or
avoided.
Nevertheless, ‘the RSPO standard is
very relevant for our communities and smallholders in Colombia, as we lack
appropriate national laws for the palm oil sector’, shares Leonardo Gonsalez
Perafan from Indepaz, Colombia. ‘We can use the RSPO to push for better
behaviour by the companies which are otherwise violating peoples’ rights. The
right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent is vital to protect otherwise
vulnerable communities.’
‘These voluntary standards are not
a solution by themselves’ adds Linda Rosalina from TuK INDONESIA, which tracks
investment in the palm oil sector. ‘We also need national legal reforms to
uphold rights, provide access to justice and regulate developers and investors.
Especially since policies and regulations from our governments often benefit
the companies rather than our people’.
‘In Liberia, a new Land Rights Act
now promises land security to indigenous peoples, which is a great step
forward, but the problems remain for the communities living in the millions of
hectares whose lands have already been allocated to companies for 50 years or
more’ reports Sampson Williams of the Sustainable Development Institute. ‘Where
national laws are weak, we need alternatives at the international level and in
consumer countries.’
Representatives of some of the
biggest palm oil companies in the world call us unfriendly and toxic for
exposing the realities we face in our communities. They want to hide the
impacts of their business on local communities, local environments, our
forests, rivers, cultures, territories and our planet. We stand firm in our
right to expose the reality of the global palm oil industry. We call on all
palm oil companies to uphold their duty to respect environmental limits and
human rights, including our right to freedom of expression.
Together, we remind our governments
that their first obligation is to respect, protect and promote the rights of
their people. They should not remain insensitive to the plight of local
communities struggling to survive the impacts of the palm oil industry, and
they should not become complicit in human rights abuses for the sake of palm
oil profits. We call on our governments to endorse the enactment of a binding
treaty on business and human rights.
We are not against palm oil, but we
do not accept the reckless environmental destruction and rampant human rights
abuses that accompanies palm oil production. Neither should the global palm oil
industry, consumers or the governments of palm oil producing and importing
countries.
Instead of name-calling and
censorship, we welcome genuine, good-faith discussions with governments and
palm oil companies who take their environmental and human rights obligations
seriously.
Signed:
Green Development Advocates, Cameroon
Instituto de estudios para el
desarrollo y la paz (Indepaz), Colombia
Alianza Ceibo, Ecuador
Young Volunteers for the
Environment, Ghana
Action Aid, Guatemala
Auriga, Indonesia
Ecoton, Indonesia
ELSAM, Indonesia
Institut Dayakologi, Indonesia
Link-AR Borneo, Indonesia
OPPUK INDONESIA – SERBUNDO, Indonesia
Sarumpun, Indonesia
SERUNI, Indonesia
Setara JAMBI, Indonesia
TuK INDONESIA, Indonesia
WALHI Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia
Yayasan Masyarakat Kehutanan
Lestari, Indonesia
Yayasan Pusaka, Indonesia
Sustainable Development Institute, Liberia
Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange
Programme, Malaysia
Sabah Environment Protection
Association, Malaysia
Federacion de Comunidades Nativas
De Ucayali y Afluentes - FECONAU, Peru
National Movement for Justice and
Development, Sierra Leone
With support and solidarity from:
Both ENDS, the Netherlands
Forest
Peoples Programme, the United Kingdom
[1] ‘Malaysian palm oil bosses urge
action against 'toxic' environment groups’, Reuters, 4 February 2020: https://www.reuters.com/article/malaysia-palmoil/malaysian-palm-oil-bosses-urge-action-against-toxic-environment-groups-idUSL4N2A42DK
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