COP8 Preparation - International Alliance

The International Alliance has been following up on climate change discussion since 2000. 2007 was not an exception as Indigenous peoples are among the sectors at high risk to the impacts and dangers of climate change but they are also among the least heard on this crucial issue.

Last year, the International Alliance jointly undertook a number of activities on climate change together with the Global Forest Coalition (GFC) and AMAN. These included organization of a training and strategy meeting on indigenous peoples and climate change on 27 November – 2 December and participation in COP 13 of UNFCCC on 3-14 December in Bali, Indonesia

The training and strategy meetings were held prior to the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP). The main objectives were to educate indigenous organizations on climate change issues and salient points of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and how they can participate more actively and influence its meetings and processes. It brought together 54 participants - indigenous activists (42), support NGOs (12) from some 24 countries in Asia, Pacific, Latin America, U.S. and Africa.

1. Training

The training was held on November 27-29 where participants were briefed on key issues on climate change and of UNFCCC processes and mechanisms, in particular how these can be used to advance the concerns of indigenous peoples. It also provided a venue to learn of the impacts of climate change and mitigation projects in other regions as participants discussed country situations and how local people were responding to these.

This was achieved through presentations that tackled the following topics/issues:

Country presentations on impacts of climate change
UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol
Carbon trading
Biofuels and impacts on indigenous peoples
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF)
Avoided Deforestation
Climate Change and the CBD
Introduction to International Indigenous Forum on Climate Change
Important themes related to COP13

2. Strategy Meeting

There was a 2-day strategy meeting on December 1-2 as participants convened the International Forum of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change (IFIPCC). The activity served as a practical exercise for participants to familiarize themselves with the language, work and processes of the Convention. More importantly it provided the occasion to prioritize issues they wanted to carry to CoP13, integrate organization or group concerns, and come up with common positions and demands.

To achieve these, the meeting reviewed important agenda items for CoP13 that have implications for indigenous peoples and the specific bodies and officials with whom to raise their concerns. They also reviewed relevant articles of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to substantiate their positions and demands.

Four major agenda items were identified which participants further discussed in workshop groups, with the results and recommendations to be consolidated into a position paper. The identified themes were clean development mechanisms, the Nairobi Work Programme, avoided deforestation and capacity building.

Key Demands

The IFIPCC agreed on three major demands to present to CoP13. These focused on participation in UNFCCC process and action on adverse impacts of climate change and mitigation projects on indigenous peoples’ rights and territories. Specifically, the Forum called for:

1. Creation of an Expert Group on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples with the full participation and representation of indigenous peoples;

2. Creation of a voluntary fund for the full and meaningful participation of indigenous peoples;

3. Recognition and action by the CoP to curb adverse impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples and to refrain from adaptation and mitigation schemes and projects promoted as solutions that devastate their lands and territories and cause more human rights violations, such as market -based mechanisms, carbon trading, agrofuels and avoided deforestation.

The demands for the establishment of an expert group and voluntary fund cited the precedents made at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Convention on Biological Diversity, respectively.

The Forum further expressed the position that UNFCCC policies and implementation should be consistent with the rights contained in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, emphasizing that it has been adopted by the UN General Assembly. These demands were part of the statement drafted by the indigenous participants intended to for the opening sessions of the CoP.

3. Participation in COP13

Members of the Alliance and other IPOs participated in COP13 under the name of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) held in Bali, Indonesia from 3-14 December 2007. Throughout the whole two weeks, the IIPFCC was able to voice their concern on a few issues. These included Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and adaptation fund. Also, IIPFCC was given a chance t The International Alliance sent a polite letter to the Asian Development Bank declining its invitation to participate in the Mekong regional consultations on its safeguard policyreview. The Alliance decided not to participate in the said consultations after reviewing the draft paper and the consultation process. IAITPTF Rejects Invitation of ADB to attend consultation on its redrafted Safeguard Policy The letter of the Alliance to the ADB IAITPTF to hold two side events in CBD-COP9

In the upcoming Conference of Parties to the CBD, to be held in Bonn, Germany in May, the International Alliance will host two side events to highlight specific issues and concerns. First of these will be the IPNC side event which will serve to present the lessons and achievements of the project. Regional Coordinators will serve as speakers for this side event. The second will be jointly hosted with MISEREOR, our German partner and on the theme of Free, Prior informed Consent. This is will present the results of two case studies from Nepal and Panama. This side event will hopefully result in a more detailed project on the same theme. Dates and venues will be announced later. AITPTF to hold two side events in CBD-COP9

In addition, the IIPFCC requested a number of meetings with different constituencies, such as the presidents of the COP/MOP, SBI and SBSTA, meeting with EU delegates, and UNFCCC Executive Secretary to explore view and ways to advance the Indigenous concerns in the UNFCCC processes.