Shipibo leader speaks to UK parliamentarians about stopping financial flows to human rights violations and deforestation through the introduction of new UK laws

Guimaraes’ speech underscored why it is vital that indigenous peoples’ human rights, including their rights to land, territories and resources, are included in any future UK law that places due diligence obligations on financial institutions and businesses.  

 

“We have a spiritual relationship with nature, which is the only thing that allows us to continue existing. However, companies like Ocho Sur P destroy our forests without taking into account our way of life", Guimaraes said. 

 

Guimaraes spoke about land dispossession and devastating rates of deforestation in the Santa Clara de Uchunya community’s territory. A deep rupture in the community's relationship with their territory occurred with the entry of a transnational oil palm company, Plantaciones de Pucallpa, whose plantation is now owned by Ocho Sur P. Research has revealed that its parent company - Peruvian Palm Holdings - is headquartered in Bermuda, an off-shore UK tax haven.  

Palm oil produced by Ocho Sur P has been found in the supply chains of several agri-commodity traders with links to the UK, EU and US, and several banks and other financial institutions are providing finance to these traders.  

Satellite imagery shows a total forest loss of 17, 744.3 hectares up until 2020, and deforestation in the area has continued since: in 2021 Ucayali registered the highest deforestation rates in the Peruvian Amazon. 

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The continued territorial dispossession and environmental devastation has been made possible by a sophisticated network of opaque, unaccountable corporate structures and international financing. Lack of demand-side regulation on financiers and businesses that requires value chain transparency and respect for indigenous peoples’ rights makes it even harder to hold these actors to account and achieve justice for the victims of these abuses. 

Demand-side laws that place obligations on financiers and companies must require the respect of indigenous peoples’ rights as articulated in international human rights law. To be effective, they must include civil liability and strong provisions on value chain transparency and remedy. Since one of the most frequent corporate impacts on indigenous peoples and local communities stems from land grabbing for agricultural, mining or infrastructure activities, remedy must go beyond financial compensation and include options for land restitution. Ultimately what is considered an appropriate remedy must be decided through consultation with, and the free, prior and informed consent of, the affected rightsholders. 

Anna McMorrin, MP and joint co-chair of the APPG for Global Deforestation, wrapped up the parliamentary event by highlighting that new legislation brought forward in demand-side countries should reflect the history, experiences and human rights of indigenous peoples. 

 

“I’ve met quite a few representatives of different Indigenous communities who have been hugely impacted and faced losses in their communities,” she said.  

“One thing that comes through, and I think has here, is that these communities are guardians of the land and have been for thousands of years. It’s about including that in the whole model, so that we respect that as a global community and that any legislation and regulatory systems, financial or otherwise, reflect that.”  

 

There is no doubt that deforestation is a key issue for indigenous peoples in tropical forests worldwide, and the picture on the ground shows a complex set of drivers of human rights violations and deforestation, spanning several sectors including oil and gas, mining, hydro-electric and other infrastructure developments. Demand-side laws need to address all drivers simultaneously if they are to achieve social justice whilst adverting climate breakdown and reversing biodiversity loss.  

The investor community itself is expressing the need in the UK for a new broad and cross-sectoral law that would be aligned with international human rights law – thus inclusive of protections for Indigenous peoples’ rights. In summer of this year, 39 investors representing over £4.5 trillion in assets under management expressed that: 

 

“We, […] support a ‘Business, Human Rights and Environment Act’, ambitious UK primary legislation to mandate companies to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence across their own operations and value chains. All businesses, including investors and other financial actors, have a responsibility to respect human rights and the environment.” 

 

The UK’s Financial Services and Markets Bill is currently progressing through the Houses of Parliament. This offers an opportunity to create a legal obligation on financial institutions that is aligned with international human rights law, going beyond the obligation placed on businesses under Schedule 17 of The Environment Act (2022). Such a law would be most effective if it were complimented by a broader ‘Business, Human Rights and Environment Act’ with obligations on both businesses and financial institutions. 

For further information about the event (in Spanish) please see AIDESEP’s blog.