The Commodification of the Sacred - a reflection from COP28 (Jocabed Solano)
The commodification of the sacred, a reflection from COP28
By Jocabed Solano
Editor’s note: “COP28” refers to the United Nations’ annual “conference of the parties” (nations), #28, on climate change. COP28 took place in Nov/Dec 2023 and was held in Dubai. 2023 was the year to reflect on progress since the historic Paris Climate accord commitments made in 2015 at COP21, and adjust international goals accordingly.
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“Earth is mother because we emerge from her, we are nourished by the bounties of Earth and when we die, we are cultivated in her.”
From indigenous perspectives, as well as that of the Gunadule people, Earth is mother because we emerge from her, we are nourished by the bounties of Earth and when we die, we are cultivated in her.
From this perspective and from the International Indigenous Peoples' Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC), hundreds of indigenous brothers and sisters spoke out with timely statements and demands, and indigenous negotiators were active in lobbying the negotiations, side events and demonstrations during COP28.
It is ironic that to date, indigenous peoples, who have safeguarded 80% of the planet's biodiversity thanks to our cosmovivencias and cosmovisions nurtured by the importance of all relationships, still do not have the right to make decisions in the UN climate change negotiations.
Our lack of rights has not been due to the absence of indigenous delegates, but to the colonialism present in the UN member States who do not recognize indigenous peoples as sovereign nations with free self-determination, despite the struggle we have maintained for many years. It is thanks to this walk of indigenous sisters and brothers in favor of the rights of our peoples that some spaces have been won, but it has not been enough to have a space in the negotiations. Raising our voices when we are given that space, without being able to make decisions, is not enough.
The desire and dream of the indigenous communities is that soon, in the decision-making spaces, indigenous nations will also be able to be sovereign nations making decisions as part of the decision-making process, together with other States.
In times of climate crisis, counting on the solutions of indigenous communities, based on our knowledge and lifestyles, is a fundamental part of the solution to the crisis; however, our voices are relegated to a second or third plane.
That is why indigenous peoples in the IIPFCC made denunciations after the final declaration of COP28. One of them was the denunciation of a false inclusion of Indigenous Peoples:
"We are not here simply so that you can take pictures. We are rights holders according to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and we must be at the decision-making table."
COP28 reached a final agreement, with text that for the first time in the history of climate summits calls to move away from fossil fuels, using the word "transitioning" away from fossil fuels rather than the term "phase out". Transitioning implies a phase out, but not as an immediate action. The term "phase out" would have been much more radical and is necessary.
The reactions of indigenous peoples were not long in coming. In our IIPFCC statement we asked the question:
Why do we see a greater number of oil and gas lobbyists included in closed door negotiations? With these actions, our fear is that they have been given green light to continue "developing our lands" in the name of green colonialism and its false solutions.
Jocabed Solano
The word 'transition' in the official text is an opening to continue with all kinds of extractive industries with other minerals. There is no just transition if the land and Indigenous peoples continue to be violated.
For indigenous peoples, the term "transition" is not just a game of semantics. With it, COP28 denies the need to "phase out" fossil fuels. This action is devastating. It continues to visibly perpetuate "green colonialism," false solutions and epistemicide, which is a real threat to the extinction of indigenous peoples.
Despite this painful and deadly reality, indigenous peoples from the IIPFCC state that "Regardless of the power imbalances and lack of transparency in the negotiations, we remain committed to ensuring that our voices, our solutions and our wisdom guide the development of an effective climate strategy. This includes keeping the 1.5 degree Celsius target alive, and transforming the colonial capitalist system that created this crisis and continues to commodify the sacred.”
Commodification is underpinned by a system based on capitalism where land is the object of instrumentalization and violence for the interests of the capital system. So, it seems to me necessary to ask ourselves:
What is the sacred? In what way is the sacred commodified? And on the other hand, how have the negotiations within the COPs failed to recognize the sacred?
All life is sacred and when the parties negotiate, many of them forget the element of the sacred. We are not talking about numbers, we are talking about living beings, including human beings. In negotiations, decisions are made that can bring life or death, and many decisions bring a death sentence for the planet.
That is why thinking about the commodification of the sacred is a necessary factor. We cannot continue thinking and living believing that we can sell, violate, instrumentalize, and reify Earth.
A spirituality that moves away from the sense of the sacred on Earth is a spirituality that forgets the sense of the human being and living being, and forgets that our vocation is to live in harmony with all relationships. This conception of relationships, of a sense of family, of recognition of the sacred on Earth, and that the Great Spirit has given life to generate life as a gift to maintain balance in the cosmos, is the mysticism of the concept of ‘buen vivir’ (community well-being) that invites us to live well together.
When we violate the sacred, we threaten life, leading us to a deeply spiritual crisis, which is also ecological. In other words, it is the crisis of the relationships of the Sacred that has led us to the climate emergency.
The call from indigenous peoples is to be aware of what practices of our lifestyle commodify the sacred.
Indigenous peoples stated that the negotiations at COP28 have been unfair and inequitable as always. Empty promises and commitments cannot solve the climate crisis. In the COP’s global stocktake, indigenous peoples' rights, inherent collective rights, knowledge systems and participation have been ignored; and furthermore indigenous peoples' concerns about the implementation of Article 28, including Article 6, Loss and Damage, Climate Finance, Just Transition and the Adaptation adopted in the global stocktake text.
Also, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has made it very clear that the global inventory should be the vehicle for course correction, but it falters in significant respects. In terms of safeguarding 1.5°C in a meaningful way, AOSIS states the language is certainly a step forward, as it talks about transitioning away from fossil fuels in a way that the process has not done before. However, AOSIS points out that the text does not specifically talk about phasing out fossil fuels and mitigation in a way that is in fact the radical change that is needed. It is incremental and not transformational.
Transformational change only happens with paradigm shifts; it begins with the recognition of the importance of all relationships and our understanding of the sacredness of life, just relationships that live with equity, reciprocity, complementarity, gratuity, peace, justice, balance.
The declaration of Indigenous Peoples (IIPFCC) at COP28 ends by saying:
Indigenous peoples remain committed from their spiritualities, struggles and resistances as frontline defenders and guardians, of sacred relationships and the knowledge necessary for a sustainable future. And they call on scientists, governments, institutions, and faith communities to listen to and work with indigenous wisdom on a path necessary for the solution of the climate crisis. Failure to do so puts indigenous peoples and the world at risk of extinction. Indigenous peoples call humanity to join them. Since from generations past, indigenous peoples have been caring and making sure the planet breathes properly; we simply ask humanity to join us.
The presence of indigenous peoples at COPs is very important, without them the negotiations would be worse. Their walk, spirituality, struggle, resistance, and voices, allow us to dream of an Earth without evils, as the Guarani people say.
Some pictures were taken from Credit: LWF/Albin Hillert, others by: Jocabed R. Solano Miselis and Tamara de Alianza Mesoamericana (AMBP).
Jocabed Reina Solano Miselis is a daughter of the Gunadule nation, from the country of Panama. She is currently director of Memoria Indígena and PhD student of Theological Studies at NAIITS. Jocabed has written several articles in the area of identity, indigeneity, Guna spirituality, on their relationship with the land. She has been a delegate of Panama, at COP26, COP27 and COP28. Read more of her works in our Spring 2023 collection.
Thanks for reading. This article is part of our collection, A Climate Transition Supported by Faith: from the voices of Islamic and Indigenous women, edited by Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo. Check that collection for more. Visit our email list, podcasts and YouTube channel for more content. Sign up for our quarterly emails here.
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