Statement by indigenous peoples at the REDD+ Partnership Meeting in Warsaw, Poland on 10 November 2013

Thank you co-chairs and distinguished parties delegates, for this opportunity to speak on behalf of indigenous peoples.

We would like to acknowledge last month’s decision of the REDD+ Partnership to allocate funding for the representation of indigenous peoples and local communities at partnership meetings until the end of 2014. This will facilitate the articulation of indigenous peoples’ issues and concerns from the ground. The regional caucuses of indigenous peoples shall undergo the self-selection process and inform about their representatives to the partnership.

We would like to reiterate that most of the remaining forests in the world today, are found in indigenous peoples’ customary-owned or managed territories, lands and resources. Therefore, any decision on our lands and forests, should not in anyway, interfere to our fundamental rights. In this context, we would like to put forward the following recommendations:

• Specifically, the current text on drivers of deforestation in the SBSTA draft decision is of major concern for indigenous peoples, as this could potentially undermine the traditional livelihoods of indigenous peoples. Therefore, we would like to request the members of the REDD Partnership to help in rephrasing the paragraph to be more clear that forest-related traditional livelihoods of indigenous peoples do not cause deforestation.

• We propose that the REDD Partnership considers organizing a workshop jointly with indigenous peoples where sharing on how indigenous peoples are effectively engaged with REDD programmes in their countries can be done. This is consistent with Component 1 of the REDD Partnership Programme for 2013-2015 which is on promoting learning exchanges between south and south and south and north countries. This workshop can look into how mechanisms for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, including their Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), is being facilitated at the country level.

• The national forest monitoring system and safeguard information systems which are being developed should report on how all the REDD+ safeguards are being addressed and respected. The development and implementation of community based participatory monitoring and information systems should also be jointly done both by governments, indigenous peoples and local communities. Data generated from these processes will feed into the Safeguard information systems.

We are encouraged by the inclusion of REDD in the Green Climate Fund. We also note the presence of provisions for Safeguard and Grievance Mechanisms in the Governing Instrument of the GCF. We call on the REDD Partnership to support our call that proper institutional representation and access of indigenous peoples to the Green Climate Fund as observers to the Board be put in place.

Finally, we urge REDD partnership to ensure that, all climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, strategies, actions and programmes respect the collective rights of indigenous peoples to forests, land, territories and resources, in line with the international standards and instruments such as UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and ILO Convention 169.

Thank you. 

Read by: Mr. Lakpa Nuri Sherpa, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)