Environmental justice is often associated with the Indigenous populations that have a disproportionate environmental burden on their lands and other natural resources. One of the ways to address such a marginalized position is to consider these populations from the prism of civil rights. In particular, there is a range of studies that focus on South Asia, Amazonia, Warlpiri, China, and India to examine the difficulties faced by the Indigenous peoples when businesses use their resources for development.
One of the most vivid examples of the interaction between the local population and businesses is discussed from the perspective of environmental justice. The study by Cha provides the framework for ensuring Indigenous communities’ rights via determining the burden and using environmental laws. Namely, rural South Asia can be marked as the area that suffers disproportionate environmental problems expressed in a lack of common property and poor access to natural resources. For example, the case of the descendants of Sino-Tibetian roots living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts shows that as a minority group, they cannot affect the culture of Bangladesh and companies that attempt to use their resources. The low level of participation in politics and marginalization leads to the fact that the customary laws of this population are allowed only if they do not contradict those of the state. In other words, their goals of having proper access to resources, for example, living near water resources, are not met.
The Amazonian development is another case study discussed by Posey et al., who focus on the ecological and social devastation, calling for the need to adopt a new strategy for development. The main goal of the Amazonians is to achieve a more sustainable approach to be adopted by the companies that mainly operate in hydroelectric and mining fields. The current projects are especially damaging to the nature of Amazonia, which sound ecological strategies should replace. The potential contribution of the Indigenous populations is regarded as a humane and productive way to consider their attitudes, thus employing radically different strategies. At the same time, it should be stressed that the proposed initiative should also cooperate with western scientific knowledge and the projects introduced by large companies.
The impact of the Indigenous peoples’ attitudes towards businesses in the context of the environment can also be discussed based on the example of Warlpiri aboriginal elders in Australia. Holmes and Jampijinpa offer the term of Indigenous ecological knowledge that is inherent in social processes and necessary for the healthy functioning of the population. The awareness of Warlpiri of their country, landscape, and social systems allows for designing new natural resource management. Such an approach aims to regulate better and monitor the use of natural resources. Johnston also notes the case with the Mili population living in the Marshall Islands, where nuclear weapon testing was the core concern. Among the key elements of the suggested framework there are law, ceremony, skin, language, and country.
In conclusion, despite different approaches identified by the Indigenous populations to protect their natural resources, one may distinguish between some common features. All of them suffer environmental burdens when large businesses use their resources and put them in a marginalized position. This problem can be resolved through establishing cooperation between the companies, governments, and Indigenous peoples. Their attitudes and knowledge should be taken into account to design the best strategies and ways of their implementation.