From 2 – 4 April 2008, NAILSMA in conjunction with
Japan-based United Nations University – Institute of Advanced
Studies and the Secretariat of United Nations Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), convened an International Expert Group
Meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change in Darwin,
Australia.
The Expert Group Meeting drew on the expertise of Indigenous
Peoples; United Nations Permanent Forum members; relevant United
Nations agencies; intergovernmental agencies; national and local
governments; Indigenous Peoples' organizations; non-government
organizations and academics that are active within the field of
climate change to discuss important issues surrounding climate
change impacts and opportunities for Indigenous peoples.
International Indigenous experts represented each of the seven
UNPFII regions: Africa; Asia; Central and South America and the
Caribbean; the Arctic; Central and Eastern Europe, Russian
Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia; North America; and the
Pacific.
‘Indigenous people have done the least to cause climate
change and now the solutions…are causing more problems for
them’, said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz from the Philippines, who
is the Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues.
Ms Jean Fenton, former NAILSMA staff member, presented a
positive story to the debate about carbon trading and offsets,
highlighting the West Arnhem Land Fire Agreement (WALFA) as being a
way in which voluntary offsets can contribute towards Indigenous
aspirations to remain, return and re-connect to their country.
Whilst there is more work to go in ensuring that the finer aspects,
particularly those relating to the communities themselves, such as
governance and benefit sharing, this methodology presents as a
positive contribution towards Indigenous development and
contribution to climate change.
The objectives of the Expert Group Meeting were to:
- Promote an opportunity to exchange
information on the effects of climate change.
- Draw attention to the impact of
climate change on indigenous peoples, their livelihoods, cultural
practices and lands and natural resources.
- Identify options and further plans
to accommodate the many issues (i.e. migration) that indigenous
peoples face as a result of climate change and identify possible
solutions that maintain indigenous peoples’ identity and
cultural integrity
- Identify international
institutions that may have an interest in working in partnership
with indigenous peoples to address the issues in relation to
adaptation, mitigation, monitoring and carbon emissions trading.
- Highlight good practice models;
and
- Identify gaps and challenges and a
possible way forward.
Indigenous people have shared
harrowing stories. An Indigenous member of the Inuit people has
told the Experts meeting how hunters have lost their lives because
of the melting polar cap. “Hunters have gone out hunting and
they have fallen through the ice and so forth, and people have lost
their lives”. People are putting it down to climate change
and changes to the ice sheets. Very significant issues to be aware
of and it’s the first time obviously in this part of the
world we have heard of this type of impact of climate
change”.
The meeting also heard how islands
are being lost in the Pacific Ocean to rising sea levels.
“Many of the Pacific islands are very small and they are also
very low islands, they are already experiencing a lot of king tides
which are taking over and taking away a lot of islands and a lot of
Indigenous estates”.
Four major themes were discussed as follows:
Theme 1 Outlining the effects of
Climate Change on indigenous peoples
- Analysis of International standards and recommendations
concerning the rights of indigenous peoples (United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UN Convention on
Climate Change, Human Rights Committee and other treaty bodies,
Human Rights Council, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, ILO
and others) relevant to the effects of climate change;
- Analysis of how the goals and needs of indigenous peoples in
climate change arrangements differ from the needs and goals of
other interested holders, especially in the climate change
processes;
- Provide case studies outlining the effects of climate change on
indigenous peoples;
- Outline strategies required to deal with the effects of climate
change such as migration.
Theme 2 Adaptation Measures to Climate
Change
- Highlight ways that indigenous peoples could be involved in
programs that support community level mitigation and adaptation
measures and at the same time recognize the value of traditional
knowledge of indigenous peoples that has enabled them to maintain
and interact with their environment in a sustainable way;
- Provide case studies of instances where indigenous peoples are
working as a community or in partnerships with Governments, private
sector companies, donor agencies to adapt to Climate
Change.
Theme 3 Carbon
Projects and Carbon Trading
- Analysis of carbon projects and their impact on indigenous
peoples’ livelihoods, their lands and territories;
- Highlight and provide case studies of partnerships that
currently exist between Governments, private sector companies,
donor agencies and indigenous peoples in carbon projects and carbon
trading;
- Provide an analysis on the promotion of forest conservation,
measures for energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Theme 4 Factors that enable or obstruct indigenous
peoples’ participation in the
Climate Change processes.
- Provide examples where there might be effective participation
in decision-making at the national level;
- Highlight examples where indigenous peoples are working in
partnership with UN agencies, Governments, the private sector
and/or donor agencies on monitoring and assessment of climate
change;
- Analyse whether indigenous peoples have public access to
information on climate change measures;
- Highlight measures of accountability and integrity in
decision-making and implementation of policies at the international
and national levels in regards to the Climate Change
processes;
- Identify obstacles, including lack of relevant statistics, lack
of information and lack of understanding of technical and
scientific language of Climate Change arrangements;
- Focus on the persistent barriers that block indigenous
peoples’ effective participation in the Climate Change
process
- What is the role of the donor community and the private sector
in enhancing or weakening indigenous peoples’ participation
in the Climate Change process?
Joe Morrison said recommendations
made during the talks will be put to the seventh session of the
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. “Which
is a very significant forum for Indigenous peoples around the world
and we hope Australia will sign up to that”, he said.
What we want to do is use the
permanent forum to articulate how Indigenous people are affected on
their land by climate change and what the opportunities are as
well”.
For further information visit the UNU-IAS Traditional Knowledge
Initiative Website at: www.unutki.org
