‘Colonialism caused climate change’: historic opening statement at Indigenous Peoples Pavilion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: Monday, November 1, 2021

CONTACT: Kera Sherwood O’Regan, kera@sustainedability.org

Terena Indigenous representative delivers Indigenous Peoples opening statement at COP26 Plenary

Calling for protection of Indigenous rights and a rapid reduction in emissions, as well as a just transition away from fossil fuels, to ensure a 1.5 degree future.

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom | Last night, as state governments around the world opened COP26, Taily Terena of the Terena Indigenous Peoples of Brazil delivered the Opening Statement of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus on behalf of representatives from the seven socio-cultural regions of the world, emphasizing the key priorities of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) including the need for real emissions reductions that include protection and safeguards for the rights of Indigenous Peoples throughout all negotiations. The statement concluded with, “Colonialism caused climate change. Our Rights and Traditional Knowledge are the solution,” summarizing the IIPFCC’s position for the negotiations this week. 

Indigenous Peoples’ participation and positions at the COP’s have become increasingly more critical to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations over the last 5 years. The UNFCCC parties created the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) at COP24 in Katowice, Poland to operationalize the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP), “emphasizing, in its entirety, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of the implementation of the functions of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform involving indigenous peoples.” 

“Addressing issues with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, one of the first points in our statement, is one the clear priorities of the IIPFCC. This article has direct implications on the rights of our communities and it’s critical that there are safeguards and protections for the rights of Indigenous Peoples.  In addition, we are committed to amplifying Indigenous efforts to address the impacts of climate on food sovereignty, equitable and long-term financing involving Indigenous people and gender and disability equity, and the need for a permanent agenda on loss and damage due to the climate crisis,” says Taily Terena of the Terena Indigenous Peoples of Brazil.  

The IIPFCC maintains that all Parties uphold commitments to human rights, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as a minimum standard for creating meaningful pathways for addressing climate change impacts and creating policies and solutions that we all so desperately need. Many states are in support and agreement about the enormous importance and contribution of Indigenous knowledge systems and traditional ecological practices in informing pathways to mitigate, adapt and reverse the impacts of climate change that threaten ecosystems and biological diversity across the globe. 

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OPENING STATEMENT TRANSCRIPT:

31 October 2021

READ BY: Taily Terena, Terena Indigenous People

Indigenous Peoples are affected first and worst by climate change, and by colonial climate action, yet we drive critical climate solutions rooted in our relationships with the living world.

In exercising our protection on the frontlines, we face criminalisation, human rights violations, and assassination. And in the COPs, we are excluded from decision making on issues that affect us the most. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this injustice. We call for a rapid reduction in emissions that drives a just transition away from fossil fuels and ensures a 1.5 degree future. We are deeply concerned by so-called Nature-based Solutions developed without our input and free, prior, and informed consent - undermining our self-determination and secure land tenure.

Our expectations for this COP are that:

• Article 6 upholds human rights, and specifically, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, and leads to real emissions reductions.

• Indigenous food sovereignty is centered in all agricultural discussions, and particularly the Koronivia dialogue.

• Equitable and long-term climate financing directly to Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations across all seven regions.

• A permanent SB agenda item is established on Loss and Damage. Any outcome must safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and address non-economic losses to our communities.

• The draft three-year Work plan of the LCIPP is adopted and implemented, including recommendations of the FWG Report.

• The Gender Action Plan is advanced, and upholds land rights, including those of Indigenous women.

• Persons with Disability are meaningfully included in UNFCCC processes as a formal constituency.

• COP26 and future COPs must ensure the participation of Indigenous Peoples, including those of us with multiple intersections of identity.

Colonialism caused climate change.

Our Rights and Traditional Knowledge are the solution.

Thank you, Chair.