Bonn, Germany
4 April 2009


The IPACC delegation to the UN Climate talks wrapped up its work this weekend. Highlights included a meeting between indigenous activists and the Bolivian Minister of the Environment, a workshop with UNESCO on traditional knowledge of nature, a meeting with Daniela Tarizzo of the Convention to Combat Desertification, a workshop with Conservation International on technology and adaptation, submission of recommendations from IPACC to a Tebtebba meeting on climate change, and a dialogue with UNFCCC Executive Director, Dr Yvo de Boer.

IPACC was represented by Ms Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim (Chad) and Mr ag Aly Lahyerou (Mali). A Kenyan team was due to attend but in the end were unable to make the event. Kenya will be launching its national dialogue on REDD this month.

IPACC's team concentrated on following the adaptation negotiations in the Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA) wing of the climate negotiations. IPACC also monitored the discussions on technology and financing. The North and South remained in deadlock after a week with each side insisting that the other should move first. China and the G77 say they want the West to clarify how much money is available for technology transfer, mitigation and adaptation. The Western donor states are saying: show us your plans and then we will talk about financing. Overall, there was some progress in consensus building as more and more states acknowledge that relying solely on market revenues from carbon credit trading is not going to be adequate or predictable, and that Western states need to commit a clear amount of public funding which is not part of existing Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).

In the indigenous meeting with the Bolivian minister, indigenous peoples from Africa, Asia and Latin America had the same message: the UNFCCC is exclusive, state-centric, unfriendly and a risk to the survival of indigenous peoples. All of the delegates expressed frustration in not being able to input or have much access to diplomats for bilateral and multilateral discussions. The Bolivian minister acknowledged that this was a serious problem and was fully committed to transmitting the views and interests of the indigenous caucus into the state meetings.

Tebtebba Foundation of the Philippines has taken a strong global lead in defining indigenous issues in relation to climate change and justice. Ag Aly Lahyerou, who speaks Spanish fluently, explained that the African indigenous people struggle to be heard. Living in desert, subhumid and equatorial rainforests means IPACC members have complex concerns relating to REDD and to adaptation. Overall, the IPACC concern is for transparency, inclusion, and attention to how indigenous knowledge and governance norms in relation to ecosystems can feature in climate planning and adaptation. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim focussed on the problems with the National Adaptation Programmes of Action. Though the NAPAs are a step forward, they are currently state centric, top-down and bureaucratic. There are very few indications in the African NAPAs that the states know how to work with oral knowledge systems or will give real attention to how indigenous people govern their territories to protect ecosystems.

IPACC had an exciting meeting with the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD). CCD is one of the three Rio Conventions but it has been the one least accessible to indigenous peoples. Very few indigenous delegates attend the CCD meetings and the Convention does not specifically recognise indigenous peoples. The CCD is also highly state centric without any normative instruments. Nonetheless, for indigenous peoples in Africa it is critically important as an instrument to help those in arid and subhumid areas.

In its final presentation, IPACC delegates set out the priorities for African indigenous peoples in relation to climate change and the negotiations at the FCCC.

Priorities & Recommendations
*Adaptation needs much higher profile in FCCC;
*Indigenous knowledge systems / traditional ecological knowledge (IKS / TEK) need greater recognition in FCCC;
*Technology transfer (ICTs) needs to include Indigenous Peoples;
*NAPAs need to be inclusive, consultative &‘bottom-up’;

REDD
*Ensure that African indigenous peoples are involved in each step of REDD and have their rights protected;
*IPACC is cooperating with the World Bank to monitor the REDD RPINs and RPLANs - resources need to be committed to strrengthen indigenous participation and the theme of governance;
*The World Bank has been supportive but is not reliable in terms of following up on human and civl rights (following the debacle in DR Congo, indigenous peoples do not trust the Bank's Operational Directives);
*If WB is unreliable in rights protection related to REDD how can indigenous peoples secure other institutional monitoring and support? One idea may be to link REDD monitoring to the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas (POWPA);
*UN should strengthen POWPA at sub-regional level to monitor REDD / governance / rights in Africa – create dispute mechanism & forum including IPOs, States & Conservation NGOs;

Adaptation & NAPAs
*African indigenous peoples need to lobby for Technology Transfer / Financing at COP15 to strengthen Adaptation on the ground;
*Increase ICT / geospatial information technology capacity of indigenous peoples in Africa;
*National inventories of current adaptation practices, rights and IKS / TEK;
*Use maps & IKS to reshape NAPAs to be bottom up and inclusive;
*More coaching required on advocacy and how to link local needs with national and multilateral policy and instruments;
*More training needed on main UN instruments: CBD, FCCC, CCD;
*More contact with Conservation NGOs;
*More attention to women’s presence in technology training & advocacy
*Web2 training helps building African rural networks;