Reflections from COP27: indigenous peoples' representatives supported by FPP

Immaculata Casimero, Alma O’Connell and Timothy Williams went to COP27 to share the Wapichan people’s experience of continued pressure from extractive industries on their territory and to reaffirm their call to the international community – as well as to their own government - for recognition of their territory spanning 2.3 million ha, of which 1.6 million ha is community conserved forest. They highlighted their ongoing efforts to protect the headwaters of river systems that are key to a unique hydrological connection between the Guiana Shield and the Amazon basin, which are home to two of the most biodiverse, carbon rich and intact forests in the world.

 

At COP27, I have learnt that indigenous peoples all over the world face similar problems to those of our people. At COP, I have also seen the power of the world’s indigenous peoples when standing together. I go home with an increased sense of the importance that all the indigenous peoples of Guyana must stand together and stand strong. – Alma O’Connell

 

All the attention given to carbon finance and markets at COP27 made the representatives reflect on related developments in their own country, including the need for their communities to have their collective territory recognised, receive balanced information and be effectively consulted on any plans to sell carbon credits from their lands:

 

My government is hoping to enter the carbon trade market, but it might have impacts on our lands. As women we depend on these lands so if the government wants to monetise our forests it will impact us a lot. – Immaculata Casimero

We have concerns about the lack of consultation of indigenous peoples throughout Guyana on plans to sell carbon credits. We want to know the possible implications of the carbon credits and want to be included equally in any conversations about it.  – Timothy Williams

 

Representatives of the Shipibo people (Peru)

Robert Guimaraes Vasquez and Virginia Ulrika Cauper Lomas highlighted how human rights and environmental defenders are threatened by drug trafficking, illegal logging and monoculture agribusiness developments in Peru. Virginia also called specific attention to the integral role of women in local economies and indigenous knowledge transmission, and to the threat facing Indigenous cultures as women and children are forced to migrate to cities due to drug trafficking making their homelands too dangerous to live in.

From her experience at COP27, Virginia reflected that:

 

The beauty of participating in this type of space is the sharing of successful experiences in adapting to and mitigating climate change, and to meet youth collectives working towards the same cause of stopping climate change and changing the capitalist system. Uniting our voices was a great strength for us as an indigenous movement.

 

However, she also shared concerns about the place and the way in which COP27 was organised:

 

It was held in a country where human rights do not prevail, as it was not possible to protest peacefully in the streets. In general, these types of climate change conferences should not be held in a country that cares little about rights. This is an issue that the UNFCCC will have to consider in depth for future meetings, as we are already in a climate crisis where decisions must be taken with great responsibility and commitment by all the countries that are part of it. The survival of humanity depends on all of us who live on this earth.

 

The Kichwa people (Peru)

Marisol García Apagueño presented the Kichwa people's legal actions and advocacy to challenge dispossession by state-managed conservation areas linked to high-profile carbon offset projects. She also shared other threats that Kichwa communities face due to the lack of secure land tenure over their communal territories, including the expansion of illegal logging and narcotics production, forestry concessions and road construction, and community responses ranging from territorial patrols to reforestation efforts.

When reflecting on COP27 outcomes, Marisol explained that she is worried, because while an agreement was reached to pay for loss and damage, no mechanism has been put in place to stop damage from taking place in the first place, including to address illegal logging and territorial conflicts experienced by indigenous peoples. She also expressed great concern about all the focus on what she sees as false solutions to climate change:

 

The indigenous men and women who participated in COP27 are not really decision makers, we are only simple observers, yet we are the ones who have the ancestral wisdom to stop this climate crisis. We are the ones who know the real nature-based solutions because it is our philosophy of life. However, today pollution is legalised under the name of "nature-based solutions", where companies can buy carbon credits in the Amazon without assuming their real responsibilities. These are false climate solutions and will lead to the imminent death of all living beings.

Our historical struggle is not only to guarantee the survival of indigenous peoples but of all of humanity and today the owners of the economy decide who lives and who does not. They wash their image in protected areas by contributing so much money in carbon credits.

- Marisol García Apagueño

 

Representative of the Aro indigenous people (Nigeria)

During COP27, Chukwunwike Chijioke Okereke (Chinwike) was active in discussions on the need to take a human rights-based approach to all climate action, including those of national NDCs. He advocated for a system that accepts shadow reports from civil society on the implementation of NDCs:

 

Many people and communities in my country don’t even know what an NDC is. This means that the government can go to international meetings and say what they want. We need to ensure that communities and the broader civil society are able to take a central role in monitoring the implementation of promises made in the NDC.

We need to use the NDCs to hold governments accountable. - Chinwike Okereke

 

Representative of the Mende and Limba peoples (Sierra Leone)

John Paul Bai was also calling for an inclusive approach to NDC design, implementation and monitoring at COP27. He called on the government of Sierra Leone to involve civil society organisations and especially environmental land rights defenders in bringing to bear its commitments:

 

The engagement of environmental land rights defenders in national and international processes related to climate change, such as the NDC review or national adaptation planning, is critical to render these processes inclusive, participatory, and gender responsive and ensure that they address the needs of all members of society.

 

John Paul was also concerned with the topic of loss and damage:

 

If you are in Northern District of Koinadugu and your livestock get decimated by devastating droughts or your home in Yagala is destroyed by windstorm, these are not things that can be adapted to. They are permanent losses for which you deserve to be compensated.

 

Watch:

• Why direct and local climate financing for indigenous Peoples and local communities is urgent now (Event co-organised by FPP)
• Indigenous Youth Led Action For Climate Change Adaptation (Event featuring Virginia Ulrika Cauper Lomas)

[1] See the IIPFCC intervention at 5:01:30 on PC / at 3:51:20 on smart phone.

[2] The Paris Agreement set out the goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.