Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Sustainable Development and the Green Economy Agenda

Abstract

In this paper, I interrogate the potential for the realisation of the right to sustainable development in relation to the green economy agenda. This is based on the rationale that development paradigms that prioritise economic growth and the market economy over people-centred development are morally and ethically unjustifiable. Focusing on the indigenous communities of the Equatorial rainforest, I establish that the manner in which guaranteeing the right to sustainable development is envisaged to be achieved through the green economy raises human rights concerns. I argue that the market-oriented green economy is neither people-centred nor human rights-based, and because it lacks the potential to achieve sustainable development and on the contrary rather poses a threat to indigenous peoples’ right to sustainable development, its advancement into the indigenous space should be embraced with caution.