El segundo país más biodiverso del planeta recibe a la COP16 de biodiversidad durante el 21 y el 1 de noviembre de 2024. Delegaciones de 196 países se reúnen en Cali para informar cómo han traducido en acciones nacionales los objetivos del Marco Mundial de Diversidad Biológica Kunming-Montreal, establecidos en la COP15. También presentarán sus avances en la implementación del marco de diversidad biológica y Planes de Acción nacionales concretos.

Desde Land is Life estamos convencidos de que no es posible garantizar la protección de la biodiversidad sin sus guardianes: los Pueblos Indígenas. Las mujeres Indígenas están listas para contribuir a los procesos de toma de decisiones en todos los niveles. Procedentes de las siete regiones socioculturales, ellas se han movilizado para impulsar su agenda en Cali y nosotros las acompañamos en dos eventos particulares: 

1. Elevando voces, asegurando futuros: Participación de los Pueblos y las mujeres Indígenas en movilización de recursos para la biodiversidad.
   Cuándo: 24 de octubre, a las 3:00 P.M
   Dónde: Zona Azul. Salón Nuquí – Salón Academia e Investigación Plaza Uno.
   Interpretación disponible: ESP- ENG

2. Protectoras de la vida: Mujeres Indígenas preservando la biodiversidad
Cuándo: 30 de octubre, 12:30 P.M
Dónde: Zona Azul. Pabellón de América Latina y el Caribe, la BIOdiversidad nos une.

Con ánimo de aportar a la conversación, contribuir al posicionamiento de los Pueblos Indígenas en estos espacios y resaltar su rol en la protección y fomento de la biodiversidad; compartimos los siguientes documentos: 

1. El compromiso que necesitamos

17 financiadores anunciaron un compromiso histórico de US$1.7 mil millones en la COP26, en 2021, para avanzar en los derechos de tenencia forestal en países con bosques tropicales entre 2021 y 2025. En anticipación del anuncio de una Promesa 2.0, un grupo de 45 organizaciones de Pueblos Indígenas de África, Asia, América Latina, el Ártico y el Pacífico proporcionan recomendaciones estratégicas e ideas para informar y fortalecer los debates y resultados de la Promesa 2.0. 

1. 10 Razones por las que no se debe asociar a los Pueblos Indígenas con el término comunidades locales

Tras la adopción de la Declaración de las Naciones Unidas sobre los derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas en 2007, se formó un consenso internacional en torno a la naturaleza específica de los Pueblos Indígenas. Los Estados comenzaron a alinear su terminología con el reconocimiento de los Pueblos Indígenas en la Declaración.

1. Cuestiones clave que se abordarán en la COP16

Este documento es el resultado de cinco seminarios web que representaron una oportunidad para desarrollar la capacidad y los conocimientos de las mujeres y jóvenes Indígenas para su participación en la COP16 que tendrá lugar del 21 de octubre al 1 de noviembre de 2024 en Cali, Colombia. Estos son los temas a discutir y el papel de los pueblos indígenas en las próximas negociaciones

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The second most biodiverse country on the planet will host COP16 on biodiversity from October 21 to November 1, 2024. Delegations from 196 countries will gather in Cali, Colombia,  to report on how they have translated the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, established at COP15, into national actions. They will also present their progress on implementing the biodiversity framework and concrete National Action Plans.

At Land is Life, we are convinced that it is impossible to ensure the protection of biodiversity without its guardians: Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous women are ready to contribute to decision-making processes at all levels. Coming from seven sociocultural regions, they have mobilized to advance their agenda in Cali, and we will support them at two specific events:

1. Raising voces, securing futures: Participation of Indigenous Peoples and women in Resources mobilization for biodiversity.

When: October 24, at 3:00 PM

Where: Zona Azul. Nuquí Room – Academia and Research Plaza Uno.
Interpretation available: ESP-ENG

2. Protectors of Life: Indigenous Women Preserving Biodiversity.

When: October 30, at 12:30 PM
Where: Zona Azul. Pabellón de América Latina y el Caribe, BIOdiversidad nos une. 

In the spirit of contributing to the conversation, supporting the positioning of Indigenous Peoples in these spaces, and highlighting their role in the protection and promotion of biodiversity, we share the following documents:

1. The Pledge We Need

Seventeen funders announced a historic commitment of $1.7 billion at COP26 in 2021 to advance forest tenure rights in tropical forest countries from 2021 to 2025. In anticipation of the announcement of a Promise 2.0, a group of 45 Indigenous Peoples organizations from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Arctic, and the Pacific provide strategic recommendations and ideas to inform and strengthen the discussions and outcomes of Promise 2.0.

2. 10 Reasons Why Indigenous Peoples Should Not Be Associated with the Term Local Communities

Following the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, an international consensus was formed around the specific nature of Indigenous Peoples. States began to align their terminology with the recognition of Indigenous Peoples in the Declaration.

3. Key Issues to be Addressed at COP16
This document is the result of five webinars that represented an opportunity to develop the capacity and knowledge of Indigenous women and youth for their participation in COP16, which will take place from October 21 to November 1, 2024, in Cali, Colombia. These are the topics to be discussed and the role of Indigenous Peoples in the upcoming negotiations.

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VER VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EndIhnSX6ns&pp=ygUMTEFORCBJUyBMSUZF

El cargo DANIEL SANTI, LIDER DEL PUEBLO KICHWA DE SARAYAKU: LAS DEUDAS DEL COP CON LOS PUEBLOS INDÍGENAS apareció primero en Land Is Life.

Land is Life’s Latin America Program Assistant, Majo Andrade Cerda, attended the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh over the past two weeks. Along with coordinating our side event on the rights of Indigenous Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation, Majo attended many discussions alongside Indigenous leaders of movements around the world. Here, she shares her reflections on Indigenous participation at the climate discussions. My name is Majo Andrade Cerda, and I am an Indigenous woman from the Kichwa community of Serena, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I was one of the many Indigenous participants who had the opportunity to attend COP27 this month. As a young leader of my community, who belongs to the first Indigenous guard led by women in the Napo province of Ecuador, I feel it’s important to share my reflections on the conference’s achievements and failures. Although there were many meaningful side events and discussions in the Indigenous pavilion, negotiations were still held by government representatives, backed by industries, with Indigenous peoples pushed aside. I believe that the United Nations has to adjust their structures so that we, the Indigenous peoples, can share our experiences within our territories directly with those representatives who are making the decisions, and then take collective action. Although we had our own pavilion with multiple side events, space was very limited. It wasn’t a space where we could really be involved in the decision-making process. We can only send reports and hold informal consultations and dialogues. We need to keep working with state representatives to gain mutual understanding of what we need to do as a global society. As a response to being left out, we as young Indigenous peoples are increasingly more involved in fighting for our rights. Movements led by Indigenous youth are growing, as we are constantly finding ways to open more spaces to have our voices heard. However, as the next generation of Indigenous leaders, we don’t have the capacity to bring people from all around the world to hear us; we have to seek out international platforms. In those platforms, however, we are experiencing more barriers, such as language. Our brothers and sisters, delegates from Brazil’s youth for example, are not able to participate fully, due to lack of translation, as Portuguese is not an official UN language. But it’s not just about speeches on the stage — it’s about supporting Indigenous communities and respecting our ways of life. We have to be made visible to the world to say: “We are here, we exist, and we are protecting the environment for everyone, not just for us.” We have the solutions. If you respect our rights, you’re respecting the rights of nature. Failures of COP27 One key failure of COP27 discussions, in my opinion, was that government leaders did not consider the devastating impacts of mining that are hidden behind the rhetoric of a sustainable future. My river, the Napo River, is going to be contaminated by mining because the Ecuadorian government is working towards an energy transition in order to fulfill its climate targets. This will affect all peoples along its path, through the Amazon, into Brazil, because we are all interconnected with one flow of the river, flowing all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. When we talk about climate justice, we need to highlight social justice and Indigenous peoples’ rights. Another failure was that carbon markets were not considered a severe threat. Conservation organizations are seeking funds for climate adaptation, and now for loss and damage, but they don’t consider the origin of these funds. COP27 didn’t manage to have a strategy for that. Carbon markets are false solutions. They keep seeing the Amazon and other tropical forests as commodities. People are buying themselves a good conscience, without having to change their extractive and polluting ways of life. COP27 failed to stop the use of fossil fuels and the consequences will heavily impact Indigenous communities. Lessons learned There are many takeaways from my time at the Sharm el-Sheikh climate discussions. Among them was the understanding that networking among Indigenous peoples is one of the keys to strengthening the movements. We are united now, more than ever before, with Indigenous peoples from the Fiji islands and Malaysia, and we are going to strengthen our bonds with our sisters from Brazil. There’s a lot of struggle in our communities — but we know we are not alone. If something happens to us, I know there are a lot of people who would react. I am more aware than ever before of the important role of women and youth in the movement, both on the front lines as well as the daily life in Indigenous communities. It’s time we realize that women have an important role inside the programs and projects we are developing to support Indigenous communities, because sometimes our voices as Indigenous women and youth are silenced and not taken into account. We have to work daily toward supporting each other. As young Indigenous women, we particularly know how to do this, because we work daily in our communities. The future of Indigenous participation After COP27, I am committed to advocating for a paradigm shift, where the environment and the communities cannot be considered separately. Proposals and projects need to come from the communities themselves, and be led by Indigenous peoples, women, and the youth. We are told that funds need to be sent to intermediary organizations as we, as Indigenous peoples, are not capable of managing them. This needs to change. Our parents and grandparents have been working hard for our education, even though it has made us face discrimination and almost lose our languages. But here we are now, as young women, capable of leading and administering our own projects, benefiting not only our communities but also the whole world. I’ve come to realize that most people in cities don’t know how important Indigenous peoples are. I recall talking with many people in Sharm el-Sheikh who came to COP and asked for pictures of us as Indigenous peoples, just as they did the year before. And I keep responding, “You can take a picture of us, but listen first to what we have to say.” I’m tired of solely being an object of photos in a situation where we are not welcome into these spaces of power. What we genuinely need is being invited to the negotiations – not only at the UN but also on local, regional, and national levels. In aspects of our rights, if people don’t know who we are and what we are, they are not going to understand our fight.

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At the same time, it is Indigenous peoples who tend to be hit the hardest by the impacts of climate change and ecological destruction, and it is them who are increasingly at the forefronts of the resistance to destructive development. Nevertheless, it is primarily not Indigenous peoples and their knowledge that are valued and listened to in discussions on how to preserve the planet for future generations.

That is why, on this Earth Day, we would like to shift the focus of nature conservation on Indigenous stewardship. Today we are shedding light on one of our partners, the Gwich’in Steering Committee – an Indigenous organization that fights for the protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, where oil drilling keeps posing major threats to the very existence of their culture.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, located in northeastern Alaska, is America’s largest wildlife refuge and the homeland of the Gwich’in and Iñupiat Indigenous peoples. The area is abundant in biodiversity – it hosts millions of migrating birds yearly and works as an important denning area of the polar bear whose habitat is constantly diminishing due to the changing climate. The refuge is also home to the Porcupine caribou – a species that the Gwich’in have depended on for food, clothing, tools, and spiritual guidance for millennia.

Despite the fragility of Arctic ecosystems, the natural resources of the area keep attracting economic interests. For decades, the fossil fuel industry has been insisting to commence oil and gas drilling on the refuge’s coastal plain. The “Sacred Place Where Life Begins”, as the Gwich’in call it, is where the caribou give birth to and nurse their calves. In 1988, Gwich’in elders addressed the tremendous threat to the caribou and thus the entire Gwich’in culture, and called upon the chiefs of all Gwich’in villages across Alaska and Canada to gather to discuss the issue. That is when the Gwich’in Steering Committee was established. Ever since, the Gwich’in Steering Committee’s work has been crucial in halting the oil and gas exploration and successfully including Indigenous voices in the debate.

The fight that the Gwich’in keep leading, is not only about the ecological values of the refuge but also about Indigenous rights. The Gwich’in are fighting to preserve their territory, livelihoods, food security and an entire culture that is dependent on the caribou, for future generations. These perspectives are too often ignored when the environmental impacts of extractivism are debated.

In 2017, the resistance suffered a setback, as President Trump’s administration decided to open the coastal plain to oil and gas leasing without a single public hearing. Even though President Biden’s administration suspended the drilling leases in 2021 to conduct an environmental review, the coastal plain remains threatened by fossil fuel development as the halt is only temporary. The Gwich’in responded to the devastating situation by launching an extensive divestment campaign targeting major banks and insurance companies to pledge not to finance or insure oil and gas development in the Arctic. The initiative has already proven to be powerful as six largest banks in the US and five in Canada, as well as 12 international insurance companies have stated to keep their operations out of the Arctic Refuge.

Land is Life joins the Gwich’in Steering Committee’s calls for the permanent protection of the Arctic Refuge to fully prevent the fossil fuels industry from entering the territories of the Gwich’in and Iñupiat. Indigenous territories, and the fragile ecosystems of the Arctic, are already existentially suffering from the impacts of climate change, and cannot bear the pressure from extractivist industries.

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