A Powerful Voice from Chile's Atacama Desert on Lithium Mining and Protection of Mother Earth
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, May 8, 2025
NEW YORK -- "Land is not a resource but a source of life," said an Indigenous representative from the Atacama Desert in Chile, in her statement to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
"The expansion of mining for critical minerals such as lithium and others without consent, and without respect for our fundamental collective rights, is a serious problem," she said, pointing out that it is an urgent need to confront the climate crisis and energy transition.
"We are not enemies of development, we are not obstacles for the future, we are guardians of the balance, we are living memory, we are solutions of the future. We want an energy transition that respects and acknowledges our Indigenous Peoples and the rights of Mother Earth."
International investments continue to finance extractive process that violate the peoples rights, pollute the water, fragment their communities and transform their territories as these destroy ecosystems, she said.
Indigenous Peoples rights must be respected and recognized. Free prior and informed consent must be a mandatory condition before any projects in Indigenous territory, in accordance with the law in Chile, and the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Climate funding investment policies must include criteria ensuring human rights and safeguarding the Indigenous communities, and must be supervised by independent mechanisms to ensure transparency in order to avoid economic marginalization, she said.
"It is important to recognize the important role of Indigenous peoples in the protection of the planet."
There must be protocols of Indigenous knowledge, and it is important that Indigenous Peoples participation is guaranteed in all areas related to climate justice.
"We are not enemies of development, we are not obstacles for the future, we are guardians of the balance, we are living memory, we are solutions of the future. We want an energy transition that respects and acknowledges our Indigenous Peoples and the rights of Mother Earth."
'Will lithium mining kill Chile's deserts?" A protest walk across the desert opposing the lithium mining using the precious water in the desert. Watch the video at The Guardian. https://lithiumworlds.com/mining-indigenous-territories/
