Indigenous
Peoples shut out of Climate Change Negotiations
7 December 2007
Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia- Indigenous
peoples representing regions from around the world protested outside
the climate negotiations today wearing symbolic gags that read UNFCCC,
the acronym of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, symbolizing their systematic exclusion from the UN meeting.
Yesterday a delegation of indigenous
peoples was forcibly barred from entering the meeting between UNFCCC
Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer and civil society representatives,
despite the fact that the indigenous delegation was invited to attend.
This act is representative of the systematic exclusion of indigenous
peoples in the UNFCCC process.
"There is no seat or name
plate for indigenous peoples in the plenary, nor for the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the highest level body in the
United Nations that addresses indigenous peoples rights," stated
Hubertus Samangun, the Focal Point of the Indigenous Peoples delegation
to the UNFCCC and the Focal Point for English Speaking Indigenous
Peoples of the Global Forest Coalition.
"Indigenous peoples are not
only marginalized from the discussion, but there is virtually no mention
of indigenous peoples in the more that 5 million words of UNFCCC documents,"
argued Alfred Ilenre of the Edo People of Nigeria.
This is occurring despite the
fact that indigenous peoples are suffering the most from climate change
and climate change mitigation projects that directly impact their
lands.
Indigenous peoples are here in
Bali to denounce the false solutions to climate change proposed by
the United Nations such as carbon trading, agrofuels and so-called
"avoided deforestation" that devastate their lands and cause
human rights violations.
"This process has become
nothing but developed countries avoiding their responsibilities to
cut emissions and pushing the responsibility onto developing countries,"
stated Fiu Mata'ese Elisara-Laula, of the O Le Siosiomaga Society
of Samoa. "Projects like REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
in Developing countries) sound very nice but they are trashing our
indigenous lands. People are being relocated and even killed; my own
people will soon be under water. That's why I call the money from
the projects blood money," he added.
Marcial Arias of the Kuna People
of Panama reminded the international community that indigenous peoples'
right to participate was recognized in the Earth Summit in 1992 and
reaffirmed this year. "On September 13th of this year, the United
Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples [1] which enshrines the fundamental human rights
of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and environment.
It is precisely these rights recognized by the UN itself that the
UNFCCC is violating," he explained.
Contact: Hubertus Samangun, Indigenous
Focal Point to the UNFCCC (Bahasa, English) 0813-1077-8918 Orin Langelle,
Global Forest Coalition Media Coordinator 0813-3895-9742 (English)
(photos available upon request)
Notes:
[1] http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.html
