Inclusion of Afro-descendant peoples: the Colombian and Brazilian proposal dividing Africa and Latin America at COP16

Among the proposals that have arrived at the COP16 on biodiversity, which is being held in Cali, there is one that refers to the inclusion of the role of Afro-descendant populations in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity - the global agreement to which the 196 nations participating in the summit are bound.

The initiative, co-sponsored by Colombia and Brazil, "urges Parties to engage fully with communities and peoples of African descent, to recognize and their collective actions that contribute to the objectives of the Convention, to protect the territories they traditionally occupy or use to achieve the objectives of the Convention, and to protect and promote their customary sustainable use."

This is an important issue, because until now the Convention only mentions indigenous peoples and local communities, which is why various Afro-descendant organizations in the Americas and the Caribbean have been trying to achieve this recognition in United Nations scenarios. An effort that, according to of these populations, has taken almost two decades of attempts for a proposal like the one presented by Colombia and Brazil at COP16 to even be put on the table.

But it is also an issue that, paradoxically, found its most vocal critics in African countries during the first days of discussions at the Biodiversity Summit. On Tuesday, the second day of the summit, the delegate from the Democratic Republic of Congo said they "strongly reject" the inclusion of people of African descent. "Africa clearly and strongly requests that this not be taken into when we agree on this agenda because it has nothing to do with Article 8 (j) of the Convention," he said in his intervention.

They also pointed out that, with regard to the DRC, the said article was already clearly delimited in the Convention and should not be changed at this stage. "Therefore, any attempt to change the concept or to add to Article 8J another category not provided for in the provisions of the Convention is unacceptable," they stressed.

However, this African nation recognizes the need to adopt a new work programme in light of this article. One that is aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework and, in addition, "should include coherent, realistic and inclusive activities that strengthen the role of indigenous peoples and local communities in the implementation of the Framework.

Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity states that "Parties (the countries that have signed this Convention) shall, to the maximum extent possible and appropriate, respect, conserve and maintain, in accordance with national legislation, knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and promote their wider application with the consent and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices, and promote the equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of such knowledge, innovations and practices".

In the face of this approach, however, Afro-descendant communities-the children of slaves brought to the Americas during the conquest and colonization-are considered invisible. For José Luis Rengifo, a member of the National Coordination Team of the Process of Black Communities (PCN) in Colombia and of the Coalition of Peoples and Territories of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Afro-descendant peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean have not been recognized by the United Nations or any of the multilateral bodies over time.

"This is happening even though we know that at the level of Latin America and the Caribbean, there are about 134 million people of African descent. But we are also in territories that represent about 205 million hectares in the region, some titled and some ancestral. In addition, we have a culture, traditions, a life of our own and a way of behaving," says the Afro leader.

These are the characteristics that, according to the Afro-descendant communities, allow them to recognize themselves as an ethnic group and as a people, independent of their African ancestors. "For this reason, we believe that it is time to reduce the whole process of discrimination and segregation of the Afro-descendant peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, and that the Convention on Biological Diversity, Article 8 (j), can recognize them," emphasizes Rengifo.

But in the opposite corner seem to be the views of Africans attending COP16 and advocating for a text that they say speaks of inclusion. "I don't think the issue of African descent should have any impact on the acceptance or inclusion of indigenous peoples in the convention. We have to start from a position of inclusion, not exclusion, so that we can really make the most of the implementation of this new global framework for biodiversity. I the idea of inclusion, not exclusion, because for me this question of descent is a false debate, it makes no sense," Aboubacar Samoura, delegate from the state of Guinea, told EL TIEMPO.

It is a political, anthropological and sociological debate. With possible economic implications, considering the large sums of money that Africa receives in funding related to biodiversity (2.9 billion dollars).

For now, despite the initial terse statement by the Democratic Republic of Congo, the discussion on the issue is still alive in the plenary sessions of COP16, as Pedro León Cortés, Colombia's ambassador to Kenya and one of the Colombian delegates participating in the debate, explained to this newspaper: "The issue is still under negotiation, as is the constructive dialogue with all countries, including African countries," he said.

ENVIRONMENT DESK