Information on renewable energy option, as an alternate development route, is also omitted from consultations. Such has been the case for the U'wa of Colombia and the Machiguenga of Peru, for example. An end to new petroleum exploration is urgently needed to ensure indigenous peoples' rights and survival. Oil and gas projects, even when employed with improved environmental management, pose new threats to the indigenous peoples' rights, cultures, and in some cases, very survival as peoples. Every day on every continent, indigenous peoples are edangered to serve the unsustainable oil and gas demands of the industrialized world.
Global economies mean real global connections.
The gas stations in California are indeed linked to the Baka people and the pipeline slated to run through their forest home in Africa. It is not too late to end new petroleum exploration on indigenous lands, nor are the alternate options too difficult. The most important ingredient for implementing proven strategies of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable development is political will. For their part, oil companies need to take a first step. Moving investments out of petroleum exploration, with a priority on indigenous territories where opposition exists or isolated peoples live, will serve as an important initial contribution towards the global transition out of fossil fuels and into sustainable societies.