Meeting review: TK at Doha Climate Change Conference

Doha Climate Change Conference
26 November – 8 December 2012 (Doha, Qatar)

Negotiations focused on ensuring the implementation of agreements reached at previous conferences. The package of “Doha Climate Gateway” decisions included amendments to the Kyoto Protocol to establish its second commitment period; termination of the AWG-KP, the AWG-LCA and negotiations under the Bali Action Plan; and agreement to consider loss and damage, “such as” institutional mechanism to address loss and damage in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. On REDD+, the COP decided to undertake a work programme on results-based finance, aiming to contribute to the ongoing efforts to scale up and improve the effectiveness of finance for REDD+ activities; and requested SBSTA 38 to consider how non-market-based approaches, such as joint mitigation and adaptation approaches, could be developed, and initiate work on methodological issues related to non-carbon benefits resulting from REDD+ activities.

UNU-IAS Traditional Knowledge Initiative with the Australian government and the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA) organized an event on Australia’s savanna fire management and sustainable livelihoods initiative. North Australia’s Savanna Fire Management, which combines traditional indigenous burning practices with the latest scientific research and is recognized under Australia’s Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI), can provide guidelines for the establishment of fire projects in developing countries where savanna landscapes and traditional fire management practices are similar to those in tropical Australia. Using the knowledge and experience of Australia’s indigenous land managers, the initiative will develop resources to document and communicate results and lessons learned and provide practical guidance on project design and implementation.

Tebtebba and the Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership on Climate Change and Forests organized a panel analyzing the current state of negotiations and indigenous peoples’ demands on the Green Climate Fund. Panelists discussed the importance in protecting gains made by indigenous peoples in the next climate change agreement, including the recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, recognition of traditional knowledge, and the requirements for full and effective participation in climate change programmes. On the Green Climate Fund, they called for full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, with separate representation from civil society.

Visit the meeting’s website … Read IISD Reporting Services’ daily reports and a summary/analysis of the meeting … Read IISD RS’ coverage of selected side events … Read the media release on Australia’s savanna fire management and sustainable livelihoods initiative … Read a report on the panel on analysis of the current state of negotiations and indigenous peoples’ demands on the Green Climate Fund by Natural Justice, including link to video …

 

Meeting update: Climate Change COP-18, Doha

Eighteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol
26 November -  7 December 2012 (Doha, Qatar)

Over 20,000 delegates, key members from governments, UN Organizations and civil society are currently attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha. It includes the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 18) and the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP 8).

In the first week of the meeting, indigenous peoples have called for the human rights, land rights, customary rights and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples to be recognized, respected and incorporated into any new agreement in the Kyoto Protocol Working Group, and for an overarching human rights-based approach that includes recognition of indigenous governance structures, traditional knowledge and technology in the ADP for Enhanced Action. Under the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, indigenous peoples called for a consultative technical body to assist UNFCCC negotiations.

Further information about the REDD+ and Green Climate Fund negotiations is available here…

Upcoming side events of relevance to traditional knowledge include:

Ongoing

Interviews: Climate Change Studio

The Climate Change Studio is run by the UNFCCC Secretariat during UNFCCC meetings. It provides an opportunity for high level delegates to be interviewed briefly by a professional journalist on actions, solutions, observations and issues that impact on climate change. All interviews are filmed, edited and made available on the UNFCCC website, and shown on monitors throughout the conference venue during the COP.

For more information, see:  http://unfccc.int/meetings/cancun_nov_2010/items/5832.php

Wednesday 5 December

Briefing: Savanna Fire Management Event

A special briefing on the new UNU and Australian Government Savanna Fire Management and Sustainable Livelihoods initiative will be hosted in the Room 236 in the Conference Centre at 14:00. Australian Parliamentary Secretary Mark Dreyfus will provide a high-level overview of the initiative. Mr Peter Yu of NAILSMA will provide real world insight into the experience of Australia’s traditional owners undertaking SFiM offset activities and developing the CFI methodology. Mr Sam Johnston, UNU-IAS TKI, will provide an overview of how the project will be rolled out globally and the long term vision of the initiative.

Download the event flyer…  Download a brochure about the initiative… Read more about the initiative…

Side event: REDD+ MRV: Capturing benefits from community forest management in the tropics

A side event on community forest mangagement will be held at 16:45 in Side Event Room 6. It will showcase ongoing activities to promote robust, transparent and operational REDD+ MRV (mreasuring, reporting and verification) systems with effective participation of local communities in the framework of sustainable forest management. Like REDD+, savanna fire management also involves engaging local communities and indigenous peoples to take an active role in abatement activities.

For more information, see http://regserver.unfccc.int/seors/reports/events_list.html?session_id=COP18/CMP8

Side event: MOST side-event supported by the Norwegian National Commission for UNESCO

From 20:15—21:45 in Room 3, a side event will be held to further three diverse developing countries’ common vision by sharing innovative solutions and replicable indigenous and science-based models for building resilience in Colombia, Kenya, and the Philippines to reduce climate change/disaster risks and address impacts of flooding, landslides, and drought.

For more information about COP18: Visit the meeting’s website …  Follow the IISD RS coverage of the Doha Climate Change Conference …

 

Resource: 2012 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples to the UN General Assembly

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Document A/67/301 (August 2012), presented to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on 22 October 2012

In this report, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples James Anaya provides comments on the need to harmonize the myriad UN activities that affect indigenous peoples. Specific UN processes and programmes reviewed include those related to: UNESCO, including the World Heritage Convention and the development of a UNESCO policy on indigenous peoples; FAO, including the Voluntary Guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests; WIPO, including the IGC negotiations on intellectual property and genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions; CBD, including the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing; UNFCCC; UNCSD; the World Bank Group, including the currently ongoing review process of all safeguard policies and the revision of the IFC performance standard on environmental and social sustainability; and REDD programmes.

The Special Rapporteur notes that the UN system has done important work to promote the rights of indigenous peoples. However, greater efforts are needed to maximize action throughout the UN system to promote the rights of indigenous peoples and to ensure that all actions within the system which affect indigenous peoples are in harmony with their rights, particularly their rights as affirmed by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Download the report [pdf] …

 

This week in review … TK at Rio+20

Rio Conventions Pavilion: Africa Day and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Day
IISD RS Rio Conventions Pavilion Bulletin, 14 June 2012

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL: On Thursday, 14 June 2012, the Rio Conventions Pavilion convened for Africa Day, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Day. A session addressed the contribution of traditional knowledge to climate mitigation and adaptation. Panelists addressed, among others, a Conservation International project supporting the recovery and restoration of indigenous lands in the Kaingang territory in Brazil, and the UNESCO Climate Frontlines project supporting the voices of indigenous peoples and promoting TK in climate policy. Discussion highlighted the many misconceptions at the heart of mainstream approaches to supporting TK; the need for support programmes to strengthen local governance capacities; and the need to strengthen learning alliances between indigenous and academic communities. Read the Bulletin … Visit the Pavilion website …

Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development: Thematic session on indigenous knowledge and science
ICSU, 13 June 2012

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL: Building upon the outcomes of the Planet Under Pressure session on Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Futures (London, 28 March 2012), the panel considered how global environmental governance has been and continues to be transformed by an expanding engagement amongst local and indigenous knowledge holders, the scientific community and decision-makers. The panel also explored the increasing collaborative engagement of indigenous and scientific knowledge holders in the equitable co-production of new knowledge to inform innovative solutions to complex sustainable development challenges. The session brought forward the following recommendations: Beyond acknowledging the value of indigenous knowledge, the scientific community and policy-makers should recognize and actively engage with indigenous knowledge holders as actors in their own right; science should move beyond an approach of validating and integrating indigenous knowledge, towards embracing knowledge co-design and co-production that bring scientists and indigenous knowledge holders together on an equitable and mutually-respectful basis; action to sustain the dynamism and creative force of indigenous knowledge must begin within indigenous communities and be based upon fostering sound and culturally-appropriate modes of knowledge transmission. Of particular importance is the re-design and re-orientation of formal and non-formal education to recognize indigenous languages, epistemologies and pedagogies; recognition of the diversity of knowledge systems, whether scientific or indigenous, each with their distinct histories, ontologies, epistemologies, modes of transmission and communication, value systems and worldviews, is critical for a productive engagement amongst knowledge holders that may generate innovative solutions to complex sustainable development problems; and these processes must be based upon the full and effective participation of indigenous knowledge holders, and the respect for the rights of their societies and cultures as outlined within the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Further information …Download the Co-Convenors’ recommendations [pdf] …

 

Meeting prep: Africa and Indigenous Day at the Rio Pavilion at Rio+20

Rio Conventions Pavilion@Rio+20
13-24 June 2012 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Occurring in parallel to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) from 13-24 June 2012, the Rio Conventions Pavilion will focus on, inter alia, indigenous peoples and local communities, ecosystem-based adaptation, oceans, land, and financing for sustainable development. The Pavilion is a collaborative outreach activity of the Secretariats of the Rio Conventions (namely the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and 25 other international, national and local partners.

June 14 is dedicated to Africa and indigenous peoples and local communities. One of the panels is focused on the contribution of traditional knowledge to climate mitigation and adaptation. Visit the Rio Pavilion website … Follow daily coverage by IISD Reporting Services …

 

This week in review … Articles on TK, indigenous peoples and forests

Saving the Forests with Indigenous Knowledge
IPS, 9 December 2011

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: According to Nigel Crawhall, the Director of Secretariat for the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC), different African communities have incredible indigenous knowledge that they use in the conservation of forests and biodiversity in general, and this should be recognized during the climate negotiations. The Bambuti and Batwa pygmy communities, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, conserve the forest using traditional methods. According to Maasai cultural beliefs, one can only use tree branches for firewood, and fibrous roots for herbs. If the bark of a tree has medicinal value, then only small portions of it can be removed by creating a “V” in the bark. The wound is then sealed using wet soil. Read the article …

Indigenous Peoples Call for REDD Moratorium
IPS, 12 December 2011

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: The new Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities against REDD and for Life issued a statement stating that based on “in-depth investigations, a growing number of recent reports provide evidence that indigenous peoples are being subjected to violations of their rights as a result of the implementation of REDD+-type programs and policies.” Read the article …

 

This week in review … Climate talks begin in Durban, indigenous leaders warn of risks of REDD

Durban Climate Change Conference – November 2011
UNFCCC, 28 November – 9 December 2011

The UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, began in 28 November 2011 and will continue until 9 December. The event includes the seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the seventh Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 7). In support of these two main bodies, four subsidiary bodies will convene: the fourth part of the fourteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA 14); the fourth part of the sixteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 16); and the thirty-fifth sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 35) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 35). A joint COP and COP/MOP high-level segment involving government ministers and other senior officials will also take place from 6-9 December. One focus will be on efforts to move ahead on several initiatives and institutions that were the subject of decisions in Cancun in 2010. In this respect, negotiations in Durban are expected to result in decisions that would operationalize, inter alia, a technology mechanism to promote clean energy and adaptation-related technologies, an adaptation framework to support developing countries and a Green Climate Fund. A second focus will be the question of how the international community will collaborate in tackling climate change in the future. In this respect, the AWG-KP and COP/MOP are expected to take a decision in Durban on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, bearing in mind that the Protocol’s first commitment period expires in 2012. Additionally, the question of long-term cooperation under the UNFCCC will be taken up by the AWG-LCA and COP. Discussions are expected to focus on a timeline for developing a future framework under the Convention and also on an upcoming review of the adequacy of, and progress towards, limiting average global temperature rise to 2°C. This review is scheduled to take place between 2013 and 2015. Visit the meeting webpage … Follow the IISD RS daily coverage of the meeting …

Side Events and Exhibits | COP 17/CMP 7
UNFCCC, 28 November – 9 December 2011

A number of side events organized during the Durban Climate Change Conference are of relevance to indigenous peoples and traditional knowledge. On Tuesday, 29 November, a side event by Conservation International presented indigenous peoples’ key proposals for mitigation and adaptation actions based on the sustainable use and management of their lands, territories and resources; another event organized by The Gaia Foundation and Development Fund showcased community efforts to use agroecology, indigenous knowledge and pastoralism to adapt to and mitigate climate change; while the Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) presented peoples-led climate change adaptation and mitigation in Bangladesh. Other events to be held during the meeting will focus on, among other issues: REDD+; the Surui Forest Carbon Project; the role of rural and indigenous women to adaptation and low carbon development; how pastoralist traditional knowledge can be combined with atmospheric science and contribute to adaptation policy-making; and the multi-stakeholder collaboration to reinforce adaptation opportunities for African pastoral peoples. Read the list of side events … Follow the IISD RS daily coverage of selected side events …

Indigenous Leaders Alert the UNFCCC and the World to the Imminent Threat that REDD Poses to their Territories and Livelihoods
IPCCA release, 29 November 2011

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: As the UNFCCC COP 17 opens in Durban, South Africa, a gathering of indigenous leaders from around the world discussing biocultural protocols and REDD warned the UNFCCC and the international community of the grave danger that REDD and market-based solutions to climate change mitigation post to their cultures, territories and livelihoods. The participants of the workshop on REDD and biocultural protocols organized by the Indigenous Peoples Biocultural Climate Change Assessment (IPCCA) met on 24-25 November 2011 to share emergent findings, analyze how REDD affects indigenous territories and discuss strategies for climate justice. In their Declaration, they strongly reject REDD as a “neo-liberal, market-driven approach that leads to the commodification of life and undermines holistic community values and governance”, further noting that REDD+ policies and projects are directly targeting indigenous peoples and their territories, are undermining indigenous governance systems, and impact negatively on traditional forest-related knowledge, food sovereignty and food security, and traditional health care systems. Read the IPCCA release … Read the IPCCA Declaration from Durban … Read an IPS article of 29 November 2011 on forest-dependent communities and REDD+ …

 

This week in review … CBD sends submission to UNFCCC on REDD+ safeguards

Submission by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
CBD Secretariat, 26 September 2011

MONTREAL, CANADA: The CBD Secretariat has made a submission to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) containing summaries of four expert workshops on the links between biodiversity and REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries), including relevant biodiversity safeguards. The workshops took place during 2010 and 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya; Singapore; Quito, Ecuador; and Cape Town, South Africa. The need for safeguards to address the potential loss of traditional ecological knowledge was highlighted several times during these workshops. In addition, the Quito workshop found that REDD+ safeguards and actions, including for the equitable sharing of benefits, need to be based on clear policies and understanding of sustainable land use, natural resource use, and land tenure rights. ILC impacts and benefit-sharing are closely linked to solving land tenure and rights issues, including the rights to the forest carbon. Similarly, the Singapore workshop highlighted the need to ensure the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities regarding customary use of traditional territories, land and natural resources through national legislation or instruments. The submission was made with reference to the invitation to UNFCCC Parties and accredited observers by the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) at its 34th session, to submit views on Methodological guidance for activities relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (FCCC/SBSTA/2011/L.14). Download the submission [pdf] …