Carbon Markets undermine peasant autonomy and self-determination over Data
Carbon markets have become one of the preferred responses to climate change and are increasingly promoted in agriculture. A new report exposes how a carbon trading project for peasant farmers in Colombia with massive data extraction jeopardizes their control over their own farms. It calls for regulatory measures to safeguard the human rights of peasants and rural communities in carbon markets and for alternative approaches promoting sustainable and just food systems.
The Colombian government aims to make the country a world leader in decarbonization. It has set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and has introduced a carbon tax to discourage the use of fossil fuels. However, Colombia also promotes carbon markets, despite growing evidence of their uncertain climate benefits and negative impacts on the human rights of peasants, indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombian communities and other rural populations.
Asómbrate is one example of a carbon trading project that specifically targets small-scale farmers in Colombia. It promotes agroforestry as a “climate-smart” agricultural practice for coffee and cocoa production, promising participating farmers increased resilience and productivity, as well as additional income through the sale of carbon stored on their farms. The project is linked to a global carbon trading platform – ACORN (Agroforestry Carbon Extraction Units for Organic Nature Restoration) – created by Netherlands-based Rabobank and based on Microsoft's Azure cloud. ACORN’s explicit goal is to connect large companies with small farmers and enable the latter to participate in global carbon markets.
However, a new report from FIAN International and MAELA Colombia, Coffee and Carbon in Colombia – Human Rights Concerns at the Intersection of Food Systems, Climate Change and Data-Based Technologies shows that some of the peasants participating in the project are concerned about the lack of transparency around collection and use of personal and agricultural data. They also have concerns about the lack of independent complaint and accountability mechanisms, as well as reports of participating farmers changing farming practices in a way that could lead to negative environmental and climate impacts.
Based on research conducted by FIAN and MAELA, the report also points to human rights concerns linked to the vast amounts of data collected to enable carbon measurement and trading. These data are collected through technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), remote sensing and satellite imagery, and subsequently used to feed data analytics, algorithms and so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI). The range of data-based technologies that carbon markets rely on pose serious threats to communities' self-determination over data.
The report sounds the alarm on the specific human rights risks arising from carbon trading projects that directly involve small-scale food providers. It makes recommendations to the Colombian state, as well as to national, regional and international human rights institutions, to develop public policy frameworks that ensure respect, protection and fulfillment of the rights of current and future generations of peasants and other rural communities in the context of climate change policies, the transformation of food systems and digitalization. In Colombia, these issues must be duly taken into account in the implementation of a recent constitutional amendment that recognizes peasants as subjects of rights and special protection.
The authors also hope that the analysis contained in this report can contribute to the increased development and implementation of public policies that promote alternative, community-driven models for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity, and promoting sustainable and just food systems that do not result in the commodification and financialization of nature.
A response from Rabobank to a preliminary version of the report, sent to FIAN International on June 11, 2024, is available HERE.
A response from Solidaridad, ACORN/Asómbrate’s local partner in Colombia, to a preliminary version of the report, sent to FIAN International on June 13, 2024, is available HERE.
Download report: Coffee and Carbon in Colombia – Human Rights Concerns at the Intersection of Food Systems, Climate Change and Data-based Technologies
For more information or media interviews, please contact Tom Sullivan, FIAN Communications and Campaigns Coordinator sullivan@fian.org
