The Hague – A delegation of indigenous representatives from 22 different countries, and 28 distinct cultures, is currently assisting the sixth session of the UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP6), presently being held in The Hague, Netherlands. The Indigenous Peoples (IP) delegates are attending the COP6 to advocate preservation of the fragile ecosystems on their lands which are suffering serious environmental damage as a result of global warming. The delegates are also demanding that the governmental representatives of the Parties recognize them as full participants in the negotiations, the executive decision-making, and the ultimate implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.
The Second International Indigenous Forum on Climate Change was held the weekend preceding the COP6, on the 11th and 12th of November, so as to develop common points of negotiation to present at the Conference. The basis for ¨The Hague Declaration¨ (the informal name given to the document written by the IP representatives for COP6) was discussed at the aforementioned Forum and will be presented to the President and Secretariat of COP6 for subsequent widespread distribution to governments.
A press conference was held on Wednesday morning, November 15th, to inform the public about the results of the IP Forum and the IP presence at the Conference. IP delegates gave their personal testimony on the serious effects of climate change experienced on their homelands in various parts of the world. Rosemarie Kupatana, an Inuit native to the Canadian Arctic, related the concerns that the Inuit have about global warming. The changes in temperature have warmed waters, thinning the ice cover and greatly increasing the dangers involved in marine hunting and fishing on ice. Such meteorological changes have also affected the emigration of new bird and animal species to the local region, endangering the way of life for her region´s native species, which are now competing for territory.
Representing the concerns of indigenous peoples in the Island of Samoa in the South Pacific, Clark Peteru informed the press that, given the effects of global warming, small islands have no other alternative than to disappear and its indigenous populations, to emigrate to other areas of the world, losing their lands and, thus, their cultures and identities, in the long term. ¨We are seeing the arrival of catastrophic cyclones to the area that are causing the deterioration of coral reefs, which are our food source. Fresh water areas have become more and more scarce every day,¨said Peteru.
Antonio Jacanamijoy, representing the indigenous tribes and organizations of the Amazon Basin, gave an overview on the processes that led to the IP Forum in The Hague and the subsequent Hague Declaration. The IP presence on climate change issues began with an IP workshop in Quito, Ecuador from which ¨The Quito Declaration ¨ was produced and consequently encouraged the presence of an IP delegation to the UN Subsidiary Body meetings held in Lyon, France in September. He told the press that the countries which are part of the Amazon Basin are uniquely concerned with the effects of climate change on their region. Jacanamijoy related that one of the direct results of global warming on the Amazon territories is the frequency of dry spells now altering wildlife habitat, and, therefore, the way of life of native indigenous tribes. Jacanamijoy expressed his concern over the Clean Development Mechanism proposed to the Kyoto Protocol, which can negatively affect the lives of indigenous peoples. ¨We are not in agreement with the de finition of carbon sinks that the Kyoto Protocol proposes. We have managed natural methods of carbon secuestration on our lands, and have been doing so for milenia,¨ said Jacanamijoy.
The Indigenous Peoples delegation on Wednesday, Nov. 15th met with Minister Jan Pronk, the President of COP6 and Minister of the Environment of The Netherlands, host country of the Conference, and with the Co-Chairs of the Contact Group on Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) and the Contact Group on Mechanisms. In the meeting with Minister Pronk, the IP delegates emphasized the need to create a UN working group on Indigenous Peoples to be present at future climate change conferences. After consulting with legal counsel, Minister Pronk responded by promising that the next conference will take into account the creation of an IP Working Group for inclusion in upcoming COP meetings, once the interests of other UN Working Groups are considered.
The IP delegation will address the plenary session of the COP on Monday, Nov. 20th, and will lobby various government representatives through the end of the Conference.
