Joan Carling

Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines

Indigenous Peoples are frontline defenders of biodiversity, cultural heritage and sustainable development. In the Philippines, as in many parts of the world, Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable because their lands hold vast reserves of valuable resources like minerals and forests. These territories have long been targeted by corporations seeking to exploit them for profit.

The stakes are high: 75 per cent of key mining areas in the Philippines overlap with Indigenous territories, which contain some of the world’s richest gold reserves. Despite these resources, Indigenous communities remain some of the poorest in the nation, and they face constant threats of violence, displacement and criminalisation for defending their lands. The Philippine government, under successive administrations, has frequently labelled entire Indigenous communities as insurgents or terrorists to justify extrajudicial killings and forced displacement, cementing their systemic marginalisation.

Carling’s Early Life and Path to Social Justice

Carling was born in 1963 in Baguio City, Philippines, to Indigenous Kankanaey parents. Her upbringing, rooted in Indigenous values of community and sustainability, shaped her lifelong commitment to social justice. She recalls learning not to look down on others due to differences in economic or social status and being taught to live without waste by planting food and raising animals. Her early experience of seeing Indigenous food producers go hungry led her to question the fairness of wealth and food distribution, which she later connected to the broader exploitation of Indigenous Peoples.

“I think the world should know that they cannot continue to discriminate against Indigenous Peoples simply because we’re different,” said Carling. “We cannot be treated as inferior, when in fact, we have so much to give.”

As a college student during Martial Law, Carling became an activist, advocating for student rights and democratic freedoms. Her visits to Indigenous communities resisting dam projects exposed her to their sacrifices and struggles, motivating her to join the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), a group of primarily grassroots organisations among Indigenous communities in the Philippines’ Cordillera region. There, she focused on defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights and documenting human rights violations in militarised areas, and later, served as the organisation’s Secretary General before becoming its Chairperson. After being arrested and detained for 16 days in 1992 for opposing the military’s actions in the Cordillera region, her dedication to fighting for justice only intensified.

30 Years of Leadership and Advocacy

After her time at the CPA, Carling was elected the Secretary General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), a coalition of Indigenous organisations in 13 Asian countries. Some of Carling’s most notable achievements at AIPP was bringing more Indigenous communities and organisations to the pact and establishing partnerships with UN agencies and donors to support the work of Indigenous Peoples organisations. Her initiative to simplify and distribute the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) among local communities was key in helping Indigenous Peoples across the region better understand and defend their rights.

Following the AIPP, Carling became the Co-convener of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development (IPMG). In this role, she advocated for a human rights-based approach to renewable energy, supporting a just transition from fossil fuels and ensuring Indigenous Peoples have a voice in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“We need to think about how we use energy and how we can transform wasteful lifestyles,” said Carling. “Indigenous Peoples have the least carbon footprint but are heavily impacted by climate change. If we do not transform how we use our resources sustainably, we’re headed to a disastrous future. If we keep supporting the rich and sacrificing the poor, the green transition won’t come with real change.”

In 2019, Carling co-founded the Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI), a solution-oriented organisation to stop the criminalisation of and violence against Indigenous Peoples. IPRI operates globally, with a greater focus on Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and the Philippines. At IPRI, Carling has facilitated the defence of Indigenous leaders facing trumped-up charges, supported grassroots campaigns for land rights and advocated for the global recognition of Indigenous women’s rights. One of the organisation’s initiatives is the Legal and Sanctuary Fund, which provides urgent financial and political support to at-risk Indigenous human rights defenders and communities.

Championing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights on the Global Stage

Throughout her career, Carling has fought to place Indigenous Peoples at the forefront of the fight against global ecological breakdown. Locally and globally, she advocates for a green transition that prioritises social equity and sustainability, ensuring that Indigenous communities are not further displaced by otherwise sustainable initiatives, such as solar farms, lithium mining or forest conservation projects. Instead, she advocates for a green transition that conserves Indigenous land and culture, allowing communities to continue to be sustainable stewards of their land as they have been for generations.

Carling has contributed to numerous victories for Indigenous communities in the Philippines’ Cordillera region. Through collective action, these communities successfully prevented numerous projects encroaching on Indigenous lands, such as mining and energy projects, including a projet to expand of open-pit mine in Ucab, Itogon, Benguet. A community-led referendum forced the project to halt and resulted in a municipality-wide ban on open-pit mining.

“Seeing the changes in behaviour, the growing confidence and empowerment, the belief that we can fight this together, along with strong solidarity, are, for me, achievements in advancing the Indigenous movement,» said Carling.

Carling’s impact extends beyond direct advocacy and support. She has helped shape international policy by engaging with the UN, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and other global bodies to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights. As the Executive Director of IPRI, Carling influenced the inclusion of Indigenous rights in the revised OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Carling also participated in the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights to demand that businesses respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including free, prior and informed consent.

She has played a crucial role in promoting Indigenous women’s rights, particularly through her organisation’s contributions to the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s (CEDAW) General Recommendation 39 on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls. Adopted in 2022, the Recommendation aims to strengthen the rights of Indigenous women and ensure their freedom from discrimination, violence and inequality.

Resting Government Oppression and Vision for the Future

Carling was among 600 individuals wrongfully labelled as «terrorists» by the former Duterte administration in the Philippines, an accusation aimed at silencing activists and human rights defenders. However, following a series of determined legal challenges, these baseless charges were ultimately dropped. Looking ahead, Carling envisions a world where Indigenous Peoples are recognised as vital stewards of the environment and defenders of human rights. She continues to advocate for the protection of Indigenous lands, the end of criminalisation and violence against Indigenous leaders and the promotion of gender equality within Indigenous communities and society at large. Carling is a symbol of resistance for Indigenous Peoples everywhere.