The promise of net-zero emission through carbon capture markets (reforestation, biofuels and technological innovations) is still heavily linked to the ongoing exploitation of natural resources that has contributed to the destruction of our planet. The proposed “solution” will still allow polluters to buy permits to keep polluting, according to Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network. While fossil fuel lobbyists have a seat at negotiation tables, Indigenous peoples are protesting outside against this system that kills environmental activists and disregards their requests.
One could object that, compared to the first COP in 1995 in Berlin, Indigenous peoples are more visible. According to some, we should appreciate what has been achieved. However, in 2020, at least 331 human rights activists were killed, one third of them being members of Indigenous communities, according to a report by Humanity United. Therefore, what has actually been achieved is more attention towards the never-ending violence against a minority that keeps fighting to protect its lands. What do we make, then, out of this visibility, if Indigenous peoples’ stories are still instrumentalized and romanticized? The answer: nothing.