While Indigenous people continue to stand up to protect the natural world, nation states are not only failing in their role as guardians, but actively plundering resources. Intentional burning of forests and woodlands is destroying biodiversity, and acting against Mother Earth and ancient worldviews
Quote from the Submission.
The IFSW UN Commission of the International Federation of Social Workers has submitted a statement to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in response to its call for input on environmental human rights defenders and the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The submission, developed collaboratively by the IFSW Indigenous Commission and IFSW United Nations Commission, highlights the role of environmental human rights defenders in protecting people, communities, lands, waters, biodiversity and the relationships that sustain life. The submission places particular emphasis on the leadership and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous communities have long carried responsibilities for caring for the natural world, with knowledge systems and relationships to land, water and all living beings that provide essential guidance at a time of climate change and accelerating biodiversity loss.
Hilary Weaver, IFSW Global Indigenous Commissioner, said:
“The work of the IFSW Indigenous Commission reminds us that Indigenous Peoples are not simply stakeholders in environmental protection. Indigenous Peoples are knowledge holders, rights holders and protectors of the natural world. Across our diverse communities, caring for land, water and all forms of life is grounded in relationships, responsibilities and obligations carried across generations. When Indigenous environmental defenders are threatened, criminalised or killed, it is not only individuals who are harmed — ancestral knowledge, community wellbeing, culture and the rights of future generations are also placed at risk. IFSW must continue to listen to and stand with Indigenous Peoples and support their leadership in shaping a just and sustainable future.”
For social workers, these impacts are central to the profession’s concern with human rights and wellbeing.
Pushkar Sebastian Cordoba, IFSW Regional Commissioner to the United Nations (Asia Pacific), said:
“ The United Nations and Member States should create safe, accessible and adequately resourced pathways for defenders, Indigenous Peoples, civil society and communities to participate meaningfully in decision-making from the outset. Action 55 of the Pact for the Future provides an important opportunity to strengthen this participation. Protecting those who defend people and the planet is fundamental to realising the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.”
Priska Fleischlin, IFSW Global Commissioner to the United Nations, said:
“This submission demonstrates what social workers contribute to the global conversation on environmental human rights: a commitment to seeing the whole picture. It contains voices from four continents and shows the power of IFSW as a global voice. We are grateful for the contribution of the IFSW Indigenous Commission and for the opportunity to bring the social work perspective into the OHCHR process.”
We will follow up on how the OHCHR integrates this very meaningful contribution and try pave the way for more local-national-global collaboration between OHCHR and IFSW.
Contributing authors: Hilary Weaver, Carole Tana-Tepania, Margaretha Karlberg Uttjek, Daniel Flores, Pushkar Sebastian Cordoba, Karina Mancini, Priska Fleischlin
Interested in the work of the work of the IFSW Commissions? Visit the website: https://www.ifsw.org/ifsw-commissions/
Here is a link to OHCHR and the call for input we responded: https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2026/call-input-environmental-human-rights-defenders-and-human-right-clean-healthy