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From Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change homepage

The Inuit Circumpolar Council is hosting April 20-24, 2009 in Anchorage, Alaska a Global Summit on Climate Change that will bring together indigenous delegates and observers.

The purpose of the summit is to enable Indigenous peoples from all regions of the globe to exchange their knowledge and experience in adapting to the impacts of climate change, and to develop key messages and recommendations to be articulated to the world at the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009.

Indigenous Peoples from all regions of the world depend upon the natural environment.Their rich and detailed traditional knowledge reflects and embodies a cultural and spiritual relationship with the land, ocean and wildlife.

However, human activity is changing the world’s climate and altering the natural environment to which Indigenous Peoples are so closely attached and on which they so heavily rely.

In a very real sense, therefore, Indigenous Peoples are on the front lines of climate change. They observe climate and environmental changes first-hand and use traditional knowledge and survival skills to adapt to these changes as they occur.

Moreover, they must do so at a time when their cultures and livelihoods are already undergoing significant changes due, in part, to the accelerated development of natural resources from their traditional territories stimulated by trade liberalization and globalization.

Reflecting their position as “stewards” of the environment and drawing upon their age-old traditional knowledge—the heart of their cultural resilience—Indigenous Peoples were among the first groups to call upon national governments, transnational corporations and civil society to do more to protect the Earth and human society from climate change.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit will bring together 200-300 indigenous participants and observers from around the world to pursue four key objectives:

1. Consolidate, share and draw lessons from the views and experiences of Indigenous Peoples around the world on the impacts and effects of climate change on their ways of life and their natural environment, including responses;
    
2. Raise the visibility, participation and role of Indigenous Peoples in local, national, regional and international processes in formulating strategies and partnerships that engage local communities and other stakeholders to respond to the impacts of climate change;
    
3. Analyze, discuss and promote public awareness of the impacts and consequences of programs and proposals for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and assess proposed solutions to climate change from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples; and
    
4. Advocate effective strategies and solutions in response to climate change from the perspective of the cultures, world views, and traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples, including local, national, regional and international rights-based approaches.

Indigenous delegates were selected from each of the UNPFII regions, with a view to ensuring balanced representation of professional expertise, gender balance and stakeholder participation within the available funds. Additional participants include both indigenous representatives and observers, who were interested in attending the Summit and were able to fund their own costs.

The United Nations University (UNU)  has assisted the Summit in synthesizing relevant background information, providing logistical and media support, and organizing a documentary film festival. During the Summit, UNU will provide substantive assistance in the form of rapporteuring, writing reports and proceedings, and aiding the Summit organizers with auditing procedures.

From the Tebtebba "Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples" (PDF document)

The severity of the impacts of climate change and mitigation processes on indigenous peoples and the complex negotiating processes around climate change compels us to have a basic understanding of climate change and the policies and actions being taken to address it. We, indigenous peoples, have long observed and adapted to the climatic changes in our communities for tens of thousands of years. Because of our sustainable lifestyles and our struggles against deforestation and against oil and gas extraction, we have significantly contributed in keeping gigatonnes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the ground and in the trees. However, the extent and magnitude of present-day climate change seriously challenges our capacities to cope and adapt. Many of the environmental challenges we face, be these climate change, pollution, environmental degradation, etc., are caused not by our own actions but mainly by the dominant societies who are incessantly pursuing a development path of unsustainable production and consumption. Climate change is the biggest proof that this dominant development model is unsustainable and therefore needs to be changed. International cooperation and solidarity to support our adaptation initiatives and to strengthen our contributions to climate change mitigation is crucial.

Unfortunately, we have been excluded from the negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol and even in the discussions and implementation of these at the national level. We believe that, given the opportunity, we can contribute substantially to the discussions and decisions made on climate change policies and actions not only at the national level but also at the global level. We also believe that the recently adopted United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should be the overarching framework upon which climate actions and policies as these relate to indigenous peoples should be based.

It is in this light that Tebtebba prepared this “Guide on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change.” The aim of this publication is to enhance our knowledge on climate change so that we will be better equipped to participate more effectively in shaping relevant policies and actions taken to address this issue. It also aims to enlighten non-indigenous peoples on our own experiences and perspectives on climate change. We are aware of the existence of recently written materials on indigenous peoples and climate change but most of these are not written by us and therefore lack the perspectives we have to offer. This publication is aimed to fill the dearth of such materials. It is designed as a guide that will provide the basic information which we deem indigenous peoples should have on their hands. Hopefully, it will allow all of us to appreciate more fully how climate change issues are related to our basic struggles for rights to lands, territories and resources, right to culture and to self-determination, including our right to development.

The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) announced that the special theme for its 7th Session (April 21-May 2, 2008) is on “Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges.” There have been some climate change workshop-seminars and consultations organized by indigenous peoples and some support groups and UN bodies which have already taken place. So this publication draws on some recommendations which emerged from these processes.1 It will also use information from the documents prepared for the UNPFII sessions such as the overview paper made by the UNPFII Secretariat and the Report on the Impact of Climate Change Mitigation Measures on Indigenous Peoples and their Territories and Lands” [E/C.19/2008/10], as well as the Report of the 7th Session of the UNPFII [E/C.19/2008/13].

Why should we be concerned about climate change?

We should be concerned about climate change because of the following:

• Indigenous peoples, mainly, are peoples of the land. We live off the land and resources found in our lands and waters. We are the main stewards of biological and cultural diversity. Our rights, cultures, livelihoods, traditional knowledge and identities are based on the profound and intricate relationships we forged with our lands, waters, and resources over thousands of years. Thus, when our lands and resources disappear or get altered, due to climate change, we suffer the worst impacts;
• Our ancestors and we, the present generations, have coped and adapted to climate change for thousands of years. However, the magnitude and nature of present-day climate change seriously challenges our resilience and our capacities to adapt. We contributed the least to climate change because of our sustainable traditional livelihoods and lifestyles and yet we are the ones who are heavily impacted by it;
• Some mitigation measures agreed upon and promoted under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol (the Clean Development Mechanism and emissions trading schemes) and other market-based mechanisms have adverse impacts on indigenous peoples. These range from displacement or relocation from ancestral territories, land grabs, serious human rights violations to the exacerbation of environmental degradation of our lands;
• Because of the above, we believe that we should be concerned about climate change and we should be included in negotiations and decisionmaking processes and bodies dealing with climate change.

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Public release date: 19-Apr-2009
Contact: Terry Collins
terrycollins@rogers.com
416-538-8712
United Nations University

Indigenous peoples at world summit to share climate change observations, coping techniques

Indigenous peoples seek greater recognition in successor to Kyoto agreement

With the first climate change-related relocation of an Inuit village already underway, some 400 Indigenous People and observers from 80 nations are convening in Alaska for a UN-affiliated conference April 20-24 to discuss ways in which traditional knowledge can be used to both mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Hosted by the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change is also designed to help strengthen the communities' participation in and articulate messages and recommendations to the December UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, at which a successor agreement to the Kyoto protocol will be negotiated. The Summit will conclude Fri. April 24 with a declaration and action plan, and a call for world governments to fully include Indigenous Peoples in any post-Kyoto climate change regime adopted in Copenhagen.
The Summit takes place in Anchorage, about 800 km east of the Alaskan village of Newtok, where intensifying river flow and melting permafrost are destroying homes and infrastructure, forcing 320 residents to relocate to a higher site 15 km west, at an expected financial cost in the tens of millions of dollars.
While the move will be financed in part with government funds that would have been spent maintaining the existing village and on periodic emergency evacuations, NGOs say the relocation of Newtok marks an Arctic milestone – the first official casualty among six Alaskan Inuit settlements in urgent need of relocation, including Shishmaref (pop. 560), Kivalina (pop. 377), where autumn storm waves are no longer contained by shore-fast ice, which used to form in September but in recent years has appeared only in December or even January. Dozens of similar settlements are considered threatened.
At the Summit, Indigenous Peoples from every world region will share observations and experiences of early impacts in their part of the planet, as well as traditional practices that could both ease climate change and help all humanity adapt to its anticipated consequences.
With scientific experts now predicting that the effects of climate change will be more severe and appear even faster than previously believed, Indigenous Peoples will present the Summit with new observations of changes, including:
Papua New Guinea: Indigenous People are being forced to relocate due to a combination of population growth and the inundation of coastal land due to sea level rise.
Borneo: The Dayak have documented climate variations based on observations of bird species, rising water levels, and the loss of traditional medicinal plants;
Mexico: Highland Mayan milpa farmers have a shortened rain season, unseasonal frost and unusually large daytime temperature changes, forcing them to find alternative sources of irrigation and crop variations;
Andean Region: Temperature changes in the Andean region have had a drastic impact on agriculture, health and biodiversity, evidenced by an increase in respiratory illnesses, a decrease in alpaca farming and a shortened growing season. In some areas where Indigenous People depend on Alpine flora for medicines, grazing and food, the growing season could be cut in half should the loss of glaciers continue and agriculture become dependent solely on rainfall;
Kenya: Protracted droughts are killing livestock on which the Samburu People depend for food and economic survival;
Nepal: Intense rainfall and droughts have become common, having severe crop effects.
"Indigenous Peoples have contributed the least to the global problem of climate change but will almost certainly bear the greatest brunt of its impact," says Patricia Cochran, Chair of both the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the April Summit.
"Indigenous Peoples are on the front lines of this global problem at a time when their cultures and livelihoods in traditional lands are already threatened by such trends as accelerating natural resource development stimulated by trade liberalization and globalization."
Says Sam Johnston of Tokyo-based United Nations University, a Summit co-sponsor: "The rich and detailed insights of Indigenous Peoples reflects and embodies a cultural and spiritual relationship with the land, ocean and wildlife. The world owes it to both the Indigenous Peoples and itself to pay greater heed to the opinions of these communities and to the wisdom of ages-old traditional knowledge."
At least 5,000 distinct groups of Indigenous Peoples have been identified in more than 70 countries, with a combined global population estimated at 300-350 million, representing about 6% of humanity.
Their traditional knowledge contributes to understanding climate change – observations and interpretations by Indigenous Peoples of changing Arctic sea ice, for example, has proven important across a wide range of economic and scientific interests. Traditional knowledge of fire, meanwhile, is helping to create more effective strategies for year round forest management and reducing the risk of killer wild fires.
Interestingly, in a world first, the aborigines of Western Arnhem Land have used traditional fire practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, they have sold $17 million worth of carbon credits to industry, generating significant new income for the local community.
Over millennia, Indigenous Peoples have developed a large arsenal of practices of potential benefit in the climate change context, including:

• Traditional methods of shoreline reinforcement, land stabilization and reclamation;
• Protecting watersheds with Indigenous farming techniques; and
• Fostering biodiversity and the growth of useful species through planting, transplantation, and weeding techniques, the benefits of which have often gone unappreciated outside Indigenous communities until traditional peoples are relocated or their practices restricted.

Traditional drought-related practices used to hedge against normal climate variation include:

• Sophisticated small dam systems to capture and store rainfall;
• Temporary migration;
• Planting diverse varieties of crops simultaneously; and
• Using alternative agricultural lands, food preservation techniques, hunting and gathering periods and wild food sources as required.

Among new Indigenous climate change adaptation efforts to be presented at the Summit:
Honduras: With increasing hurricane strikes and drastic weather changes, the Quezungal people have developed a farming method which involves planting crops under trees so the roots anchor the soil and reduce the loss of crops during natural disasters.
East Cameroon and Congo: The Baka Pygmies of South East Cameroon and the Bambendzele of Congo have developed new fishing and hunting methods to adapt to a decrease in precipitation and an increase in forest fires;
Guyana: Indigenous peoples have adopted a nomadic lifestyle, moving to more forested zones in the dry season, and are now planting manioc, their main staple, in alluvial plains where, previously, it was too moist to plant crops.
Indigenous Peoples most at risk
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the number of Indigenous Peoples most likely to be impacted to climate change requires additional research. However, those at greatest risk from expected extreme climate change-induced events such as sea level rise and crop-damaging droughts reside in: