While ministers and government entities push forward text negotiations and strategically negotiate- literally word for word- the implementation of the Paris Agreement, indigenous leaders coming from every corner of the world advance their message of discourse on solutions to climate change in a vibrant colorful and interactive dynamic at The ‘Indigenous Peoples’ & Communities’ Pavilion; in my opinion, one of the most visible and intriguing platforms in the COP22’s civil society ‘Green Zone’.
There are more than 370 million indigenous people around the world (IIPFCC). Indigenous people represent 5% of the world’s population. Simultaneously, they represent 15% of the worlds poor, and 33% of people living in extreme poverty in rural areas (WRI, 2016). But this is not all negative news, even though one could argue that climate change exacerbates poverty and deepens inequalities and marginalization, indigenous peoples are amongst the most active climate leaders. Indigenous peoples steward, own, occupy or claim approximately ¼ of the planet, representing 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity (WRI, 2016).
On a more positive note, the opportunity for global impact is real. More than 20% of carbon in the worlds tropical forests is located in indigenous territories located in the Amazon Basin, Mesoamerica, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia (WRI,2016). In the technical aspect, the WRI study states that securing indigenous land tenure in Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia could avoid the release of approximately 43.8-59.7 Mt CO2 per year by avoiding deforestation. Placing these numbers into perspective, this is equivalent to taking between 9- 12.6 million carts off the road. The study further discusses economic benefits by avoiding emissions as well as the values associated to keeping forests intact at a US$ 700 – 1,561 million in Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia over the next 20 years . As well, the study found that in tropical rainforests where indigenous rights where recognized, local deforestation numbers where two to three times smaller that other locations in Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.
Regardless of how science and statistics back up the invaluable role of indigenous communities in the conservation of biodiversity in climate change, taking indigenous peoples voices to global forums is certainly a challenging task. Only 21 of the 197 countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement have included indigenous and territory rights in their National Plans. At COP22, indigenous leaders will be pushing for access to financing to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies. The Green Climate Fund of US$ 10, 000 million till the moment does not promote and does not push for the recognition of indigenous rights from national governments, as well as the norms of free consent for any project that affects local indigenous communities.
Additionally and most importantly, indigenous leaders have the hard task of work hand in had with the local governments to comply with the Declaration on the rights on Indigenous peoples, which in short requests a previous consult with the affected communities and ensures their free, and informed consent prior to the approval of any project in their territory. This turbid area in legislation is currently causing controversy in extractive industry projects such as the current Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and the Sanding Rock Sixious people in South and North Dakota, U.S.
Like the Sanding Rock Tribe, indigenous peoples’ confront these challenges on a daily basis. One will hope that COP22 and the fight against climate change will allow indigenous peoples’ to show the world that their role as the guardians of the forest is an essential piece that needs to be propelled forward in order to achieve out climate goals.
References
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/indigenous-peoples-are-the-real-climate-experts/
http://www.elcomercio.com/tendencias/pueblos-ancestrales-propuestas-cop22-cambioclimatico.html
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