Asia-Pacific environment and human rights group demands system change; rejects “green transition”
- Alyansa Tigil Mina
- Nov 15
- 3 min read
On this Global Day of Action, the Asia-Pacific Gathering on Human Rights and Extractives extended its solidarity with all peoples and movements calling for climate justice, and socio-ecological and systemic transformation.
Atty. Mai Taqueban, Executive-Director of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC) stressed that governments and corporations profit hugely from the extraction of minerals despite strong resistance in the communities. “Mining literally costs people’s lives as environmental and human rights defenders are being killed and harassed to quell opposition to mining projects. In many cases, corporations dangle jobs and infrastructure projects - which cause divisiveness in the community, - but rarely result in the upliftment of people’s lives.”
Prarthana Rao, Program Manager of Forum Asia added: “The so-called green transition cannot claim legitimacy while those defending their territories and ecosystems face threats and repression. Protecting human rights defenders is not peripheral to climate justice; it is the measure of whether this transition is truly just.”
On the other hand, Natalie Lowrey of AidWatch and Deep Sea Mining Campaign criticized proposals to undertake mining in the world’s seas. “Deep sea mining is sold as vital for the ‘green’ transition and global security, but both claims are false. This is not about climate solutions—it’s about profit and militarisation. Mining the deep will cause irreversible damage to ocean life and ecosystems. For Pacific peoples, the ocean is life itself. We stand with them in calling for a global ban.”
Jaybee Garganera, National Coordinator of Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) said, “Together with various organizations and peoples, we reject the current extractivist green transition promoted by governments, corporations and international financial institutions. More mining of nickel, copper, cobalt and other transition minerals for the so-called green transition is a false solution to the climate crisis because it merely perpetuates the system that brought about ecological destruction and social injustice.”
To truly address the climate crisis and attain climate justice, system change is imperative, according to the group.
“A post-extractivist, just and sustainable transformation is the only way forward. The dignity and well-being of peoples, and the health of the environment, must be at the center of any solution to the climate crisis,” Garganera said.
The regional network said it supports the peoples’ urgent demand to uphold the right of communities and Indigenous Peoples to say NO to mining and other destructive projects. They urge the promotion of degrowth and reduced consumption, particularly in the Global North. They also call for the adoption of post-extractivist and decolonial alternatives, guided by planetary limits, peoples’ sovereignty, and ecological justice;
Judy Pasimio, Overall Coordinator of LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights said, “Communities suffer from the devastation caused by mining as they become sacrifice zones to serve the overconsumption of rich countries in the Global North. Indigenous peoples lose their livelihoods and their ancestral lands as mining companies take over their territories, raze their forests and pollute their water sources,” Pasimio said. “In developing real solutions to the climate crisis, we need to work with rural and indigenous communities, and not the corporations, which are the perpetrators of this crisis."
“We call on peoples all over the world to support the genuine solutions to the climate crisis. Together, let us reject the false “green transition” narratives. Collectively, let us fight for of the Rights of Peoples and the Planet,” Pasimio concluded.
