Indigenous Peoples Summit Anchorage - Tuesday

It's lunch break at the Denaina Center in Anchorage. I got here at the tail end of the morning sessions of the Indigenous Peoples Summit. This shot of the lobby shows a bit of the crowd from all over the world.
While I know something about these topics on a general level, I really have no indepth knowledge of what's going on in the world of indigenous people and climate change. So once I got into the room, I just pulled out the computer and started typing as people were talking and taking pictures. What you get here is my somewhat overwhelmed glimpses at the last panel of the morning. The afternoon sessions are closed to media so that delegates feel comfortable talking to each other without fear their words will show up somewhere for the whole world to see. That's certainly reasonable.

John Crump from the UN was discussing various UN activities related to climate change. That's him under the overhead on Objectives (of the UN in regard to climate change and indigenous peoples as I understood it.) Again, you're getting bits and pieces here out of context - think of it as sticking your head into a restaurant and catching some of the smells from the kitchen.

Now the UNESCO presentation - Peter Bates - He said there's general agreement about climate change and it's unlikely we'll be able to stop it so the focus is now on adapation to climate change. (I can't emphasize enough that you shouldn't take anything I write here as the gospel. It's possible that I've totally misinterpreted what I heard.)

Indigenous people are the first people already to experience with climate change and have a history of adapting to climate change. So they will get a larger role in UNESCO.

Discussion of UNESCO activities:

• Internet Forum - French, English, and Spanish
• Field Projects - Funded by Denmark - small projects, money available, proposals can be made by anybody = calls for proposals will be at info desk. Looking for coordinator for these projects.
• Website - www.climatefrontlines.org peoples@climatefrontlines.org
• Other Activities - Monaco Meeting - Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development - interdisciplinary dynamic - scientists as well as indigenous peoples had good interchange and there will be continuing work

• www.unesco.org/links has the report and presentations online.
• Aug 2007, Canberra Australia Indigenous Knowledge and Changing Environments - publication coming soon and will be at the previous link.

Then we had Violet Ford, ICC (Inuit Circumpolar Council) Canada, The Convention on Biological Diversity and Climate Change

Parapharasing what I heard: Indigenous people were able to participate in this project. We were put on government delegations, where we try to influence the delegation, but are also forced to compromise. This forum has opened the door for indigenous peoples around the world to participate in BDCC process.

We hold traditional knowledge of these resources. The Convention recognizes the dependence of indigenous and local communities on biological diversities.

She discussed the relationships of various international conventions which require countries to conform with the agreements.
Decision iX/13 - alerts nations to keep the agreement. (All the pictures can be enlarged by double clicking them)

I don't know how the parties will take on the obligations to indigenous people. But the Inuits of N. Canada are already adapting - new travel and hunting routes as geese and caribou have shifted their migration routes. The significant role of indigenous people needs to be recognized by post Kyoto Convention. We can't wait though. What will happen to our traditional knowledge when we can no longer hunt, when there is no need to pass own our knowledge.

Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change (click link for all the posts on the summit)


I'm going to stop here and post. I've got one more speaker to go, but I'm putting the video together for her - Vicky Tauli-Corpuz - and some of the questions.