A State-of-the-Art Review of Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Pollution

Overview

Journal Integr Environ Assess Manag

Publisher Oxford University Press

Date 2019 Dec 22

PMID 31863549

Citations 19

Authors

Alvaro Fernandez-Llamazares

Maria Garteizgogeascoa

Niladri Basu

Eduardo Sonnewend Brondizio

Mar Cabeza

Joan Martinez-Alier

Pamela McElwee

Victoria Reyes-Garcia

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Indigenous peoples (IPs) worldwide are confronted by the increasing threat of pollution. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature (n = 686 studies), we present the current state of knowledge on: 1) the exposure and vulnerability of IPs to pollution; 2) the environmental, health, and cultural impacts of pollution upon IPs; and 3) IPs' contributions to prevent, control, limit, and abate pollution from local to global scales. Indigenous peoples experience large burdens of environmental pollution linked to the expansion of commodity frontiers and industrial development, including agricultural, mining, and extractive industries, as well as urban growth, waste dumping, and infrastructure and energy development. Nevertheless, IPs are contributing to limit pollution in different ways, including through environmental monitoring and global policy advocacy, as well as through local resistance toward polluting activities. This work adds to growing evidence of the breadth and depth of environmental injustices faced by IPs worldwide, and we conclude by highlighting the need to increase IPs' engagement in environmental decision-making regarding pollution control. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:324-341. © 2019 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Citing Articles

Indigenous peoples as trustees of forests: a bio-socio-cultural approach to international law.

Lizarazo-Rodriguez L, Fabris A, Montag D Int Environ Agreem. 2025; 25(1):145-170.

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Unmute biodiversity risks of free trade? The EFTA-Mercosur Agreement (Swiss) case study.

Willemin R, Krug C, Roux N, Burgi Bonanomi E, Chesney M, Curnow B Environ Sci Eur. 2025; 37(1):26.

PMID: 39944900 PMC: 11811242. DOI: 10.1186/s12302-025-01063-3.

Editorial: The outcomes of pollutants on glia.

Arrifano G, Augusto-Oliveira M, Tremblay M, Crespo-Lopez M Front Cell Neurosci. 2024; 18:1444344.

PMID: 39049822 PMC: 11266167. DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2024.1444344.

The global relevance of locally grounded ethnobiology.

Fernandez-Llamazares A, Teixidor-Toneu I, Armstrong C, Caviedes J, Ibarra J, Lepofsky D J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2024; 20(1):53.

PMID: 38762450 PMC: 11102124. DOI: 10.1186/s13002-024-00693-w.

Fine particulate matter composition in American Indian vs. Non-American Indian communities.

Li M, Do V, Brooks J, Hilpert M, Goldsmith J, Chillrud S Environ Res. 2023; 237(Pt 2):117091.

PMID: 37683786 PMC: 10591960. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117091.

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