The concept of sustainable development

RIGHTS AIPP AIPP Regional Capacity Building Program - Training Manual on the UNDRIP In short, economic growth based on massive and intensive exploitation of the earth and of human beings is unsustainable. It is this exploitation that has given rise to the environmental and social crises that have erupted worldwide since the last century. Since the last quarter of the 20th century, social and environmental scientists have been putting forward arguments for an alternative to this, and proposing variations on a common model of what has come to be called “sustainable development”. In its 1987 report, the UN World Commission on Environment and Development WCED chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland defined the term sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” UNWCED 1987: Chapter II: 1 Governments, multi-lateral institutions and transnational corporations have appropriated the term, making sustainable development appear possible without compromising their goals of endless economic growth and boundless profit. They make it seem like the problems of envi- ronmental degradation and poverty are simply the result of inefficient resource utilization and persistence in backward technology, and can be solved if developing countries were to adopt the more efficient methods and more advanced tools of production employed in developed coun- tries. Thus, upon the urgings of the IMF, the governments of many developing countries have adopted policies that favor the takeover of their extractive industries by transnational corpora- tions, saying these corporations command the capital and technology needed to make natural resource extraction more efficient and environment-friendly – more “sustainable”. This is the case in the Philippines and Indonesia, for example, in the field of mining. The original proponents of sustainable development, however, question the very need for continued extraction of huge amounts of certain resources – for example, metals, which can be reused or recycled from waste rather than mined; diamonds, which would not be in great de- mand were it not for the market for jewelry. The model of sustainable development is precisely a rejection of the aforementioned goals of endless economic growth and boundless profit. Its proponents espouse scaled-down production and consumption, sufficient only for meeting the genuine needs of the masses of humanity and not the artificial needs that have been induced by the market or the insatiable cravings of affluent elites. They believe that it is possible for all persons and peoples to have all their genuine needs met, and to live decent, productive and creative lives, if the earth’s remaining resources were to be utilized rationally and carefully – rather than greedily and wantonly – and the benefits from such utilization were to be shared equitably. This model of development resonates with the values that underpin indigenous peoples’ traditional relationships with nature and with each other – values that uphold the conservation of natural resources for future generations and equitable sharing of these resources among the members of communities. REFERENCES UN Development Programme. 2008. Human Development Indices: A Statistical Update. http:hdr.undp.org UN World Commission on Environment and Development. 1987. Our Common Future. http:worldinbalance.netintagreements1987-brundtland.php. 122 Module-6 RIGHTS AIPP AIPP Regional Capacity Building Program - Training Manual on the UNDRIP 123 Ask the participants to write down two points each on what they think should be considered when discussing development in relation to indigenous peoples’ econo- mies, culture and societies. After this, clas- sify the cards and stick them up on a board or wall in clusters. Synthesize then move on to a lecture on Indigenous Peoples’ De- velopment Concerns as outlined below. Allow discussion, especially of examples from the participants’ own communities. Suggested Method B. Indigenous Peoples’ Development Concerns As may be gleaned from the foregoing, indigenous peoples have particular concerns that ought to be taken into consideration when discussing development. Aside from the foremost concerns of indigenous peoples – which are the retention of their lands and the resources these hold, and the respect of their right to self-determination see mod- ules on these subject matters – the following should be taken into consideration.

1. Indigenous economic systems

Asian indigenous economies generally bear the following characteristics: • Production is small in scale and low in intensity. • This is because it is primarily oriented towards providing for the family or household, or the small community. • Because it must provide for various needs, it is highly diversified. • Diversified production also spreads risks among numerous sources of wherewithal. • It can generate a surplus, or produce things not needed for subsistence – e.g. gold, gem- stones, civet musk. • Surplus produce or unneeded goods are usually traded for necessities that cannot be pro- duced with local resources. • Labor requirements are high, especially in moun- tain or upland agriculture. • This makes it imperative that women and girls engage in as much agricultural work as do the men and boys. • This also necessitates the reciprocal exchange of labor between persons, households, or families; also the pooling of labor among all able-bodied members of a community, especially in connection with rice production. • Reciprocal exchange and pooling of material re- sources, as well as labor, occurs in connection with situations of dire need – e.g. in connection with ill- ness or death and the need to host costly healing or mortuary rituals. • There are mechanisms for distributing wealth that has been accumulated by a person, household, or family among the other members of the community. • The practice of wealth distribution derives from: » recognition of the labor contributions that the other members of the community must have made to the process by which the person, household or family built up its wealth; » recognition of the interdependence and mutual interests of the members of the com- munity, who are usually related to one another by consanguinity or affinity; » recognition of the fact that the land, from which the wealth must have originated, es- sentially belongs to the community as a whole. Module-6 RIGHTS AIPP AIPP Regional Capacity Building Program - Training Manual on the UNDRIP 124 • The land is not just the soil but all the living and life-giving things it holds. Land is the source of life. Thus, it cannot belong exclusively to a single person or household or family; it is necessarily a resource and responsibility shared by all the members of a community. Even when a parcel of land is segregated from common access, for exclusive use by a person, household or family, its fate remains the concern of the entire community. • It is the community’s responsibility to defend the land. • It is also the community’s responsibility to manage the land’s resources wisely, conserving these for future generations. • Principles and guidelines pertaining to the use, disposition and management of natural resources are part of the community’s customary law, as are principles and guidelines per- taining to all responsibilities related with land, people and wealth.

2. Traditional occupations

Traditional occupations are still the chief sources of livelihood of most indigenous peoples in Asia. During the Fourth Indigenous Development Conference of Asia held in Sabah, Malay- sia in 2008, it was estimated that traditional occupations still accounted for 95 of indigenous peoples’ livelihood in Timor Leste, 90 in Cambodia, 80 in Malaysia and 70 in Thailand. In the Philippines, the figures vary from people to people, but it would probably be safe to say that, on the average, indigenous peoples there still derive more than 50 of their livelihood from tra- ditional occupations. The traditional occupations of Asian indigenous peoples include: • farming, which involves a combination of some or all of the following: » crop cultivation in the form of terraced wet-rice culture, swidden cultivation, homelot gardening, etc.; » the raising of domesticated animals, including buffalo, cattle, horses, goats, pigs, chick- ens, ducks, etc.; • fishing, hunting and gathering of materials or products from the wild; • basketry; • textile weaving and carpet making; • carpentry; • wood or stone carving or sculpting; • pottery; • wine and beer making; • sugar making; • salt making; • small-scale mining; • metal smithing; • jewelry making. In many indigenous Asian societies, there are also persons who earn some or all of their living as traditional specialists in one or more of the following: • healing, which involves one or a combina- tion of the following: » “herbal” medicine, which in many cases actually involves medicinal substances taken not only from plants but also from animals and minerals; » midwifery; » deep-pressure massage; Module-6