The Manila Declaration of the International Conference on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples

The Manila Declaration is a statement issued by Indigenous Peoples and support organisations from 35 countries during a conference held in March 2009. It condemns the unsustainable exploitation of Indigenous territories by extractive industries, highlighting the resulting environmental degradation, human rights violations, and contributions to climate change. The document calls for a moratorium on new projects, the recognition of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and systemic reforms across states, corporations, and international financial institutions to protect Indigenous rights and ecological integrity.

• Indigenous territories are disproportionately targeted by extractive industries because they contain over 60% of the world's most desired mineral resources, leading to unsustainable exploitation without consent.
• Extractive industries, particularly those involving fossil fuels, are identified as significant contributors to climate change and the destruction of the environment, including the pollution of air, land, and water.
• The document reports severe human rights violations linked to extractive projects, including the denial of self-determination, land dispossession, arbitrary arrests, torture, and the killing of activists and leaders.
• The signatories call for an immediate moratorium on further extractive industry projects that threaten their communities until human rights respect is ensured, and they demand a review of all ongoing projects approved without Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
• The declaration asserts that the right to water is a fundamental human right and condemns the World Water Council for categorizing it merely as a "basic need."
• The document demands that states ban specific harmful extractive practices, including gas flaring, mountain top removal, large scale open-pit mining, and various forms of tailings disposal.
• The signatories call on the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, and other International Financial Institutions to stop funding fossil fuel projects and large-scale mining or hydroelectric projects on Indigenous lands.
• The declaration criticizes the South American Regional Infrastructure Initiative (IIRSA) for implementing mega-projects on Indigenous lands without obtaining FPIC, describing such actions as a denial of self-determination.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2009). The Manila Declaration of the International Conference on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Declaration_Manila_Mar09.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. The Manila Declaration of the International Conference on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples. 2009. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Declaration_Manila_Mar09.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=The Manila Declaration of the International Conference on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples |date=2009 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Declaration_Manila_Mar09.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2009manila, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{The Manila Declaration of the International Conference on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2009}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Declaration_Manila_Mar09.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }