Date: 12 June 2009
Edition:  01/2009

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the inaugural e-newsletter from the Traditional Knowledge Initiative (TKI) of the United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS). In this edition we're delighted to update you on our latest activities with a special focus on climate change, including an overview of the recent Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change held in Alaska; two recent carbon trading publications; and our new series of video briefs.

Thank you for your ongoing support of this intitiative.

I. Background

II. Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change (Anchorage, USA, April 2009)

Global Summit

The Indigenous People’s Global Summit on Climate Change was held in Anchorage, Alaska, USA from 20 – 24 April 2009. The Summit enabled indigenous peoples from all regions of the globe to exchange their knowledge and experience in adapting to the impacts of climate change, and to develop key messages and recommendations to be articulated to the world at the fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP-15) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009.

Over 400 indigenous people from 80 countries attended the summit, the first such meeting on climate change focused entirely on Indigenous Peoples. Thematic break-out sessions were organised to address four key areas:

• Health, Wellbeing and Food Security;
• Ways of Knowing: Traditional Knowledge, Contemporary Knowledge and Decision-Making;
• Environmental Stewardship: Natural Resources Ownership and Management; and
• Energy Generation and Use in Traditional Territories of Indigenous Peoples. 

Anchorage Declaration

At the conclusion of the Summit, participants adopted the Anchorage Declaration.

The Anchorage Declaration is the main political message of the Summit.  Adopted by consensus it represents the common position of all indigenous participants at the Summit.  Among other things, the Declaration:

• Supports a binding emissions reduction target for developed countries (“Annex 1”) of at least 45% below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 95% by 2050;
• Calls on the UNFCCC to establish formal structures and mechanisms for and with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples;
• Calls on all Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) initiatives to secure the recognition and implementation of the human rights of indigenous peoples;
• Challenges states to abandon false solutions to climate change that negatively impact indigenous peoples;
• Calls on states to recognize, respect and implement the fundamental human rights of indigenous peoples; and
• Encourages indigenous communities to exchange information.

Themes and stories

Hundreds of stories and evidence of both the impacts of climate change and mitigation strategies on Indigenous Peoples, as well as the success of various adaptation strategies built on traditional knowledge, were shared over the course of the meeting.  Each story, each piece of evidence, was an important element of the discussion. It is not possible to properly reflect the information presented, discussed and generated at this Summit here, but over the course of the summit, some universal themes and points featured prominently in many of various outputs of the Summit.  These included:

• Indigenous peoples have contributed the least to climate change and already practice low carbon life styles.
• Indigenous peoples are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because they live in the areas most affected by climate change and are usually the most socio-economically disadvantaged.
• Indigenous peoples have an important role to play in addressing climate change through their knowledge, experience and rights over land and development.  This contribution has been largely ignored.
• More effort needs to be made to publicize and document the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples and local mitigation and adaptation measures taken by them.
• Indigenous peoples need to be fully and effectively involved in all measures to understand climate change, to reduce or mitigate climate chance and adapt to the impacts of climate change.  In particular we need to:
  • Promote the participation of indigenous youth in all processes.
  • Promote and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at all levels.
  • Enhance the capacities of indigenous peoples to mitigate and adapt to climate change and to implement their self-determined development.
  • Fully and effectively engage in the UNFCCC with the immediate objective of ensuring that the Copenhagen agreements.

Report of the meeting

The report of the meeting has been drafted and will be available on our site shortly. In the meantime, webcasts of many sessions are still available.

For further information about the summit, follow this link...

III. Recent Publications on Climate Change

UNU-IAS Guide: Emissions Trading, Carbon Financing and Indigenous Peoples This is a short guide for indigenous land managers and those who work with indigenous communities to the phenomenon of climate change. Several case studies of indigenous involvement in climate change mitigation activities are provided in the guide, including: West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project, Bushlight, and Ikuntki Cool Community, Australia Permanent Forest Sink Initiative and the Afforestation Grant Scheme, New Zealand Wind Power Project, Colombia Native Species Reforestation, Panama Renewable Energy Project (Biogas and Wind), Kenya Capacity Building for Natural Resource Management, Mexico Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects in First Nations and Inuit Communities, Canada Download the guide [pdf]...

A Carbon Guide for Northern Indigenous Australians This is a short guide for on the impacts of and responses to climate change, particularly market and financial mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (often referred to as the 'carbon market', 'emissions trading' and/or 'carbon financing'), focusing on Indigenous Peoples living in Northern Australia. The guide outlines the current situation with regard to the carbon market in Australia and opportunities for accessing carbon financing, before discussing the possible impacts of emissions reduction activities on Indigenous people. It also looks at the role of Australian Indigenous fire management practices in greenhouse gas abatement, as well as providing short case studies of Indigenous engagement with greenhouse gas emissions reduction activities, both within Australia and beyond. Download the guide [pdf]...

IV. Video Briefs

Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change Series

UNU-IAS has developed 5 video briefs about indigenous perspectives on climate change. These video briefs were showcased at the Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. 

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