Statement of the International Forum of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change
November, 2008
We, the Indigenous Peoples have suffered the worst impacts of climate change
without having contributed to its creation.
We must not be placed in the position of suffering from mitigation strategies
which we believe have offered false solutions to the problem at hand. And even
worse, many of the mitigation and adaptation schemes being discussed in UNFCCC
and related processes threaten our rights and our very existence.
Mitigation projects, including REDD and CDM, implemented by Parties and private
sector are carried out without the free prior and informed consent of Indigenous
Peoples there by affecting our livelihoods and violating our human rights.
These projects are encroaching on areas of lands sacred to us, and producing the
forced eviction of many of our brothers and sisters from their ancestral
territories.
Furthermore, proposed 'scientific' mitigation and adaptation solutions,
methodologies and technologies being discussed here and elsewhere do not reflect
Indigenous Peoples' cosmovision and our ancestral knowledge.
So-called 'consultations' with us, often only take the form of simply informing
our communities. Consultations should not be limited to specific communities and
organizations but should involve all affected and involved indigenous peoples,
including our representative organizations.
We the Indigenous Peoples demand full participation in the implementation of all
areas of work concerning Climate Change and Forests.
We put the following recommendations forward:
To ensure a rights-based approach in the design and implementation of climate
change policies, programmes and projects. In particular, the UN Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples must be recognized, implemented and
mainstreamed in all of the Convention activities;
*
To ensure the right to Free Prior and Informed Consent in line with
internationally recognized standards of good governance;
*
To develop methodologies and tools for impacts and vulnerability assessments
in consultation with indigenous peoples;
*
To recognize and use traditional knowledge and integrating it with scientific
knowledge in assessing impacts and coming up with adaptations;
*
To ensure the proper capacity building of indigenous peoples in technologies
for adaptation;
*
To immediately suspend all REDD initiatives in Indigenous territories until
Indigenous Peoples' rights are fully recognized and promoted;
*
To include indigenous peoples' experts in the implementation of phase II of
Nairobi Programme of Work;
*
To
set up a disaster reduction strategies and means to address loss and damage
associated with climate change mitigation projects and policies, impacts in
indigenous peoples territories.
Thank you.
Note: The International Forum of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change (IIPFCC)
is the Indigenous Peoples Caucus convened during the UNFCCC COP14. The Caucus
represents Indigenous participants from the North and South.
This statement was made to the 29th Session of the Subsidiary Body for
Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA), during the 14th Session of the
Conference of the Parties (COP14) of the United Nations Framework Conference on
Climate Change (UNFCCC)
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