United Nations Human Rights Council, 59th session
Annual Panel discussion of the adverse impacts of climate change on human rights: Facilitating just transitions in the context of addressing the impacts of climate change on human rights, June 30, 2025, Palais Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
Presentation by Andrea Carmen, International Indian Treaty Council
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In June 2023, at the 59th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies in Bonn, States organized their first interactive dialogue on Just Transition. Susanna Israelson, Sami Council, and I attended for the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, the global caucus representing the Indigenous Peoples Major Group. We and delivered this statement:
“We welcome this discussion and the transition from fossil fuel-based economies that can’t happen too soon for the sake of life on this planet and our future generations.
Our concern is that mechanisms and criteria must be put in place to ensure that this transition is truly just. We have heard the mention of social and environmental safeguards here, but we would like to ensure that human rights safeguards are also firmly in place as a criteria for all new projects in this regard…
In this process, which is so vital, we call for respect for Indigenous Peoples rights including to Free Prior and Informed Consent, for our traditional life ways and land management systems which are almost always low carbon, as well as for our Indigenous knowledge systems that, with respectful engagement, can contribute so significantly to national and international just transition plans. We want to contribute, and we want to survive.”
This statement remains just as relevant today as it was two years ago. We are actively engaged in global discussions under the UAE Just Transition Work Programme where we are calling for adoption of a globally agreed human rights framework that includes protection for the distinct, collective rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, some states continue to call for removal of all references to human rights as well as transition away from fossil fuel-based energy sources, the primary driver of climate change. They are advocating for language that leaves these essential elements of Just Transition in the hands of each state to determine, based on their national priorities. This is a formula for continued violations of our rights by activities that drive climate change as well as market-based projects including mining of so-called transition minerals carried out in the name of “climate change mitigation” and “green energy.”
We were deeply disappointed that references to human rights were removed from the text on Just Transition at COP 29 in Baku. We thank the states, including Columbia, Panama and Mexico who, along with Indigenous Peoples from all regions, advocated strongly at the just-concluded UNFCCC SB62 in Bonn for reinstating that language in the text that will go to COP 30. We must ensure that a human rights framework including the rights of Indigenous Peoples will be the basis for how Just Transition is defined, evaluated and implemented globally. We ask for your advocacy in this regard at COP 30.
I am from the Yaqui Indigenous Nation whose traditional Sonora Desert homelands are divided by the international border between Mexico and the United States. In December 2023 at COP 28 in Dubai, Mexico and the US held a joint press conference to announce “Plan Sonora” which includes massive amounts of lithium mining and processing using scarce desert groundwater, the basis for subsistence and survival of Indigenous Peoples of the Sonora Desert. This slide shows what they call the “exploratory” Bacanora lithium mine currently operating in Sonora Mexico and the massive destruction it has already caused. Concessions for additional lithium mines are being issued in Sonora and elsewhere in Mexico. Despite our long-standing Treaty relationship and the 2022 “Yaqui Justice Plan” in which Mexico recommitted to respect Yaqui water rights, our traditional authorities have not been informed by Mexico about Plan Sonora, nor have good faith consultations taken place for the purpose of obtaining their Free Prior and Informed Consent.
A lithium mine operating in Nevada USA, opposed by the impacted Indigenous Peoples, has used 4 billion gallons of ground water a year since 2022. Open-pit lithium mining produces 37 tons of CO2 per ton of lithium and contaminates ground water up to 150 miles away. Mapuche leaders from the so-called lithium triangle in Chile, Argentina and Boliva report a similar lack of FPIC, as well as contamination and depletion of their traditionally used water sources. Is this really “Just Transition”?
I highlight, as I conclude my remarks, some positive ways that Indigenous Peoples are contributing to a key aspect of Just Transition away from industrial food production based on large scale agriculture and livestock enterprises which produce an estimated 25% of the worlds greenhouse gasses and cause deforestation, soil degradation by agro-chemicals, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable water use.
This slide shows methods and strategies Indigenous Peoples are implementing today for low- carbon food production using traditional seeds, animals and water-restoration methods. This includes growing crops without pesticides to protect the health of living soil, the third largest absorber of greenhouse gasses, after the ocean and atmosphere. It also shows drought-resistant seed trading between Indigenous farmers, and restoration of traditional water systems and original food sources such as buffalo that withstand a range of climate conditions and restore rather than deplete native grasslands.
In closing, I recognize and congratulate the work of Special Rapporteur Elisa Morgera, the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals and various other UN human rights mandate holders and bodies who have also affirmed that human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples must be at the core of Just Transition policies, programs and activities globally.
Thank you.
Concluding final remarks:
Mr. President, esteemed panelists, delegates and excellencies:
I want to leave no doubt that Indigenous Peoples want to be full partners with States in building real, just and effective solutions to the climate crisis. Just Transition is a central consideration as we seek such solutions. But it can’t be a continuation of business as usual under a different name. It must prioritize a comprehensive transition away from the production and use of fossil fuels as an absolute requirement to uphold the global commitment to cap temperature rise to 1.5 degrees centigrade. It must also include support for sustainable projects and activities that actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions and do not cause further environmental destruction, including those being carried out by Indigenous Peoples around the world.
We affirm that Just Transition must center human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples as well our time-tested knowledge and our full and effective participation. But we also need to collectively recognize that this is more than a political debate about whether respecting human rights might hinder economic profits from untested new technologies, carbon market projects and destructive mineral mining carried out in the name of “green energy”. Please consider that the urgency of the climate crisis requires that we all chose a different path altogether, one that upholds our sacred responsibilities to each other, to our future generations and to the natural world that we call Mother Earth. We need to understand that survival is really what’s at stake, ours and yours.
Thank you again for listening to these words.
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IITC Executive Director, Andrea Carmen’s presentation today at the UN Human Rights Council on Just Transition and Human Rights
United Nations Human Rights Council, 59th session
Annual Panel discussion of the adverse impacts of climate change on human rights: Facilitating just transitions in the context of addressing the impacts of climate change on human rights, June 30, 2025, Palais Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
Presentation by Andrea Carmen, International Indian Treaty Council
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In June 2023, at the 59th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies in Bonn, States organized their first interactive dialogue on Just Transition. Susanna Israelson, Sami Council, and I attended for the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, the global caucus representing the Indigenous Peoples Major Group. We and delivered this statement:
“We welcome this discussion and the transition from fossil fuel-based economies that can’t happen too soon for the sake of life on this planet and our future generations.
Our concern is that mechanisms and criteria must be put in place to ensure that this transition is truly just. We have heard the mention of social and environmental safeguards here, but we would like to ensure that human rights safeguards are also firmly in place as a criteria for all new projects in this regard…
In this process, which is so vital, we call for respect for Indigenous Peoples rights including to Free Prior and Informed Consent, for our traditional life ways and land management systems which are almost always low carbon, as well as for our Indigenous knowledge systems that, with respectful engagement, can contribute so significantly to national and international just transition plans. We want to contribute, and we want to survive.”
This statement remains just as relevant today as it was two years ago. We are actively engaged in global discussions under the UAE Just Transition Work Programme where we are calling for adoption of a globally agreed human rights framework that includes protection for the distinct, collective rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, some states continue to call for removal of all references to human rights as well as transition away from fossil fuel-based energy sources, the primary driver of climate change. They are advocating for language that leaves these essential elements of Just Transition in the hands of each state to determine, based on their national priorities. This is a formula for continued violations of our rights by activities that drive climate change as well as market-based projects including mining of so-called transition minerals carried out in the name of “climate change mitigation” and “green energy.”
We were deeply disappointed that references to human rights were removed from the text on Just Transition at COP 29 in Baku. We thank the states, including Columbia, Panama and Mexico who, along with Indigenous Peoples from all regions, advocated strongly at the just-concluded UNFCCC SB62 in Bonn for reinstating that language in the text that will go to COP 30. We must ensure that a human rights framework including the rights of Indigenous Peoples will be the basis for how Just Transition is defined, evaluated and implemented globally. We ask for your advocacy in this regard at COP 30.
I am from the Yaqui Indigenous Nation whose traditional Sonora Desert homelands are divided by the international border between Mexico and the United States. In December 2023 at COP 28 in Dubai, Mexico and the US held a joint press conference to announce “Plan Sonora” which includes massive amounts of lithium mining and processing using scarce desert groundwater, the basis for subsistence and survival of Indigenous Peoples of the Sonora Desert. This slide shows what they call the “exploratory” Bacanora lithium mine currently operating in Sonora Mexico and the massive destruction it has already caused. Concessions for additional lithium mines are being issued in Sonora and elsewhere in Mexico. Despite our long-standing Treaty relationship and the 2022 “Yaqui Justice Plan” in which Mexico recommitted to respect Yaqui water rights, our traditional authorities have not been informed by Mexico about Plan Sonora, nor have good faith consultations taken place for the purpose of obtaining their Free Prior and Informed Consent.
A lithium mine operating in Nevada USA, opposed by the impacted Indigenous Peoples, has used 4 billion gallons of ground water a year since 2022. Open-pit lithium mining produces 37 tons of CO2 per ton of lithium and contaminates ground water up to 150 miles away. Mapuche leaders from the so-called lithium triangle in Chile, Argentina and Boliva report a similar lack of FPIC, as well as contamination and depletion of their traditionally used water sources. Is this really “Just Transition”?
I highlight, as I conclude my remarks, some positive ways that Indigenous Peoples are contributing to a key aspect of Just Transition away from industrial food production based on large scale agriculture and livestock enterprises which produce an estimated 25% of the worlds greenhouse gasses and cause deforestation, soil degradation by agro-chemicals, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable water use.
This slide shows methods and strategies Indigenous Peoples are implementing today for low- carbon food production using traditional seeds, animals and water-restoration methods. This includes growing crops without pesticides to protect the health of living soil, the third largest absorber of greenhouse gasses, after the ocean and atmosphere. It also shows drought-resistant seed trading between Indigenous farmers, and restoration of traditional water systems and original food sources such as buffalo that withstand a range of climate conditions and restore rather than deplete native grasslands.
In closing, I recognize and congratulate the work of Special Rapporteur Elisa Morgera, the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals and various other UN human rights mandate holders and bodies who have also affirmed that human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples must be at the core of Just Transition policies, programs and activities globally.
Thank you.
Concluding final remarks:
Mr. President, esteemed panelists, delegates and excellencies:
I want to leave no doubt that Indigenous Peoples want to be full partners with States in building real, just and effective solutions to the climate crisis. Just Transition is a central consideration as we seek such solutions. But it can’t be a continuation of business as usual under a different name. It must prioritize a comprehensive transition away from the production and use of fossil fuels as an absolute requirement to uphold the global commitment to cap temperature rise to 1.5 degrees centigrade. It must also include support for sustainable projects and activities that actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions and do not cause further environmental destruction, including those being carried out by Indigenous Peoples around the world.
We affirm that Just Transition must center human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples as well our time-tested knowledge and our full and effective participation. But we also need to collectively recognize that this is more than a political debate about whether respecting human rights might hinder economic profits from untested new technologies, carbon market projects and destructive mineral mining carried out in the name of “green energy”. Please consider that the urgency of the climate crisis requires that we all chose a different path altogether, one that upholds our sacred responsibilities to each other, to our future generations and to the natural world that we call Mother Earth. We need to understand that survival is really what’s at stake, ours and yours.
Thank you again for listening to these words.