Life is not a business!

A joint statement by indigenous peoples of Mexico, released on December 4, 2016, during the COP 13 on Biodiversity in Cancun, condemning the 'predatory extractivist model' and the 'green economy' as tools for corporate plundering of indigenous territories and the privatization of ancestral knowledge.

• The signatories argue that the COP 13 on Biodiversity and the broader 'green economy' serve as platforms for transnational corporations to implement mega-projects—including mining, wind parks, hydroelectric projects, and monoculture plantations—which lead to human rights violations and the plundering of indigenous lands.
• The document alleges that environmental impact studies are manipulated to favor corporate interests and that the rights of native peoples to free, prior and informed consent are ignored. It further claims that resistance to these projects is met with criminalization, threats, and violence from security bodies or paramilitary groups.
• The statement identifies the Maya ICBG (Pharmaceutical research and sustainable use of ethnobotanic knowledge and biodiversity in the Mayan Region of the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico) as the 'largest biopiracy project,' which was operated by ECOSUR, the University of Georgia, the US government, and Nature Limited of Wales (UK).
• The signatories criticize the REDD+ Program as evidence of a lack of will to address the real causes of climate change, asserting that native peoples should not be used as 'laboratories' for sustainable development goals.
• The document claims that the Nagoya and Cartagena Protocols, as well as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), favor multinational companies and promote the privatization of ancestral knowledge. It specifically names CONABIO and the German cooperation agency (GIZ) as 'green coyotes' that prioritize corporate interests over native communities.

APA

admin (2016). Life is not a business! Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/life-is-not-a-business/

Chicago

admin. Life is not a business! Friends of the Earth International, 2016. https://www.foei.org/life-is-not-a-business/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=admin |title=Life is not a business! |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=4 December 2016 |url=https://www.foei.org/life-is-not-a-business/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{admin2016life, author = {admin}, title = {{Life is not a business!}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2016}, month = dec, url = {https://www.foei.org/life-is-not-a-business/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }