🌱 How does mining impact Indigenous People’s rights to water?
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “the impact of extractivism on natural resources, compounded with the effects of climate change, has meant many indigenous peoples no longer have access to safe drinking water under international human rights standards”.[i] Mining can “creat[e] unacceptable risks of toxic contamination, not only of indigenous peoples' drinking water supplies on site, but also of downstream populations, often occurring in river headwaters”.[ii]
🌱 What overarching issues are there in modern water management?
An overarching issue in modern water management and Indigenous Peoples’ access to water is “water and sanitation projects not having a sustainable strategy to prevent funding exhaustion”.[iii] One way to solve this is to factor in the knowledge and know-how of Indigenous Peoples. The beliefs and practices of Indigenous Peoples provide “a genuine expression of the sustainability and eco-systemic approach, which today we are trying to promote in the planning and management of water throughout the world”.[iv]
🌱 What measures should mining companies take to protect water rights?
To effectively uphold Indigenous rights, companies “must put in place the necessary means to ensure that indigenous peoples enjoy their human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, inclusive of an intercultural dialogue that is respectful of their ancestral worldviews, knowledge and practices”.[v] All in all, it is also worth noting that “information processes and respectful intercultural dialogue between [stakeholders] and indigenous peoples” are key “to ensure the most appropriate strategies to guarantee the potability of the water used”.[vi]
🌱 How can mining companies factor in Indigenous views?
All in all, “in order to guarantee compliance with the rights of indigenous peoples and effective control over their [own] territories”, companies must ensure that the Indigenous “right to free, prior and informed consent [is] implemented before and during any action that affects them, including actions that affect their water and aquatic ecosystems”.[vii] In addition to meaningful stakeholder engagement, companies should carry out thorough social and environmental impact assessments. This information then needs to be shared with relevant stakeholders and form the basis for later dialogues.
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Krisna Baghouzian and Christine Nikander. The newsletter titled “How does mining impact Indigenous Peoples’ water rights?” was originally published in “The E-Waste Newsletter”.
[i] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).
[ii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 10. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).
[iii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025).
[iv] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).
[v] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025); B.M.J. Kalpana Balasooriya et al., A review of drinking water quality issues in remote and indigenous communities in rich nations with special emphasis on Australia. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723051847 (19.03.2025).
[vi] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 11. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).
[vii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).