PBI-Colombia meets with UN Working Group that raises concerns about the exploitation of natural resources, corporate transparency
Photo by Indepaz.
The Bogota-based Center for the Study of Law, Justice and Society (Dejusticia) highlights in this feature article in El Espectador the recent visit to Colombia of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
The visit was led by UN Working Group Chairperson Fernanda Hopenhaym and member Pichamon Yeophantong.
The article notes that the Working Group highlighted concerns related to “problems rooted in the exploitation of natural resources”, “the lack of corporate transparency” and “the critical risks faced by human rights defenders and indigenous and Afro-descendant communities” while also noting the urgency of ratifying the Escazú Agreement.
PBI-Canada
The exploitation of natural resources
PBI-Canada has noted that of the 69 oil and gas exploration blocks awarded in Colombia between 2019 and 2021, 39 went to Canadian companies; and that 92 oil incidents and spills between 2015 and June 2022 have been linked to Canadian companies.
The lack of corporate transparency
We have also highlighted that The Globe and Mail recently reported: “[The Office of UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor] has registered 15 cases, between June, 2019, and March, 2022, of retaliation against human-rights advocates that she alleges can be linked to the activities of Canadian mining abroad.”
Lawlor says: “[Canada] is one of the worst offenders, in terms of cases and companies. …[Canada] parades itself on the world stage as being the good guys … But when it comes to the conduct of companies in the context of business and human rights, the UN guiding principles and the obligations of Canadian embassies themselves abroad, they’re really found wanting. And it’s a big issue.”
While Lawlor was not specifically speaking about Colombia, we are worried about the implications of her findings for Colombia.
The critical risks faced by human rights defenders
We continue to amplify concerns about the criminalization of eight social leaders from San Luis de Palenque, Casanare related to their criticisms of the business conduct by Calgary-based oil company Frontera Energy.
Instagram post: “We participate in the table for Human Rights in front of corporate power. In this dialogue Colombian organizations gave recommendations to the UN Corporate Working Group and DDHH. Also presented emblematic cases such as the one of San Luis de Palenque which is accompanied by @comitedesolidaridad.”
Further reading: PBI-Colombia accompanies the CSPP at Roundtable meeting visibilizing the criminalization of social leaders who opposed Frontera Energy (PBI-Canada article, July 31, 2024).
The Escazu agreement
In June 2021, El Tiempo published this opinion piece by the German, Swedish and Norwegian ambassadors to Colombia who commented: “At this time, Colombia has the opportunity to move towards strengthening peace and environmental democracy, and Colombia’s ratification of the Escazú Agreement would send a very important political signal.”
Canada has only generally and obliquely commented (while not specifying Colombia): “Some states have established specific protection mechanisms to prevent risks and attacks against HRDs and to intervene when need be. Canada wants to stress these important milestones such as the Escazu Regional Agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Dejusticia concerns
In the El Espectador article, Dejusticia also highlights three of its priority concerns: “The carbon credit market, which without regulation violates the autonomy of indigenous peoples; the energy transition, which is making its way without prior consultation and consent of local communities; and the trade in less-lethal weapons, which is unregulated.”
The carbon credit market
We have also highlighted that PBI-Colombia accompanied defender Berenice Celeita has specified that there are hundreds of concessions to mining companies, carbon credits, and the expansion of the port of Buenaventura that generates new processes of dispossession. On July 4, 2022, Celeita, a Canadian labour delegation, PBI-Colombia and PBI-Canada attended a meeting with the Black Communities Process (PCN) in Buenaventura and heard concerns about a forest-related carbon offset scheme.
The trade in less-lethal weapons
We also continue to express concern about the export of Canadian military goods to Colombia (notably, light armoured vehicles) as well as the lack of transparency about the indirect export of military goods to Colombia via the United States, that could include components related to less-lethal weapons.
Nomadesc: “Colombians do not want more weapons, no more massacres, no more disappearances, no more threats, no more fear. #StopTheGenocide. We demand truth, justice and guarantees of non-repetition. Don’t send us any more weapons. That has made them accomplices of Barbarism.”
Final report, June 2025
The final report of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights visit to Colombia will be presented to the UN General Assembly in June 2025.
The full article in El Espectador can be read at: Alertas de la ONU ante la vulneración de derechos humanos por parte de las empresas en Colombia (August 20, 2024).
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