Has COP27 Failed Indigenous Communities?
Lisa Denton
Natural disasters, due to man-made climate change, are now ever-present and the climate emergency is becoming critical. The aftermath of recent floods in Pakistan, which affected around 33 million people, is still circling the media today.
Developing countries are most likely to suffer the impact of climate change and need help and resources to tackle the changes already being felt. It is for this reason that Loss and Damage has emerged as a key point for COP27 negotiations.
The United Nations recently reported that “ecosystems are degrading at an unprecedented rate” and that as a result the need for including native knowledge has never been more crucial. Despite this stark warning, the University of British Columbia recently noted that the “individuals and communities most impacted by climate change have been consistently underrepresented in discussions and decision-making regarding their environments”. So, how did this fare during the COP27 climate meetings?
“Our contributions only make decisions stronger and this is a call for the states to include us in our common efforts to create hope for our future generations. ”
Inuit press spokesperson, Sarah Olsvig, sheds light on the matter of inclusion during COP27. She said, “Inuit and other Indigenous Peoples have the knowledge and must be included in any policy making. Our contributions only make decisions stronger and this is a call for the states to include us in our common efforts to create hope for our future generations.”
Olsvig’s statement highlights how important it is for Inuit natives to be at the heart of climate change conversations. The critical understanding they hold is necessary for appropriate climate negotiations.
The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs shows that “50,000 out of Greenland’s 56,000 peoples are Inuit”. Despite this, the United Nations provisional list of participants showed zero Inuit representatives from Greenland were present at the COP27 meetings.
“Climate change has restricted these valuable hunting territories and put communities at risk of starvation”
Data from the European Space Agency has shown that “ice melt from ice sheets and glaciers raises sea levels, increases the risk of flooding in coastal communities, which has severe consequences for society, the economy and the environment.”
Whale, polar bear and seal hunting has been the main mode of survival for Inuits and the tradition has been upheld sustainably for millennia. Climate change has restricted these valuable hunting territories and put communities at risk of starvation.
Tropical regions have also felt the result of rising temperatures to a great level. The Aka people of the Democratic Republic of Congo base their food source solely from foraging and hunting in the rainforest. In addition, the tropical regions they rely on are essential to maintaining global temperatures to a safe level, as trees absorb large amounts of CO2 gas from the atmosphere.
The National Geographic Society claims that “roughly half of the world’s species can be found here, with an estimated 40 to 100 or more different species of trees present in each hectare.”
All of these factors have contributed to the introduction of Loss and Damage funding to the COP27 agenda.
Indonesia, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a rainforest conservation alliance as a result of the COP27 meetings this year, however no implementation strategies have been released to the public yet. Despite this agreement, there was no representation from the indigenous communities most affected.
While developed nations like the United Kingdom have not felt the impacts as strongly, as Scientist Jason Hickel has said these nations are historically responsible for “90 per cent” of historic emissions.
A draft damage and loss agreement has been created to help poor countries recover from these disasters. Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and Denmark are the main countries at COP27 that, so far, have offered funds to see this initiative through.
The effectiveness of the agreement, which so far has failed to include all indigenous communities, will be determined in due course.
Helpful sources for more information: :
IWGIA - IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
Aka people | Ethnic group of Center Africa - Native Breed.org
Lisa Denton is a reporter for Science and Environment and a final year English and Creative Writing Student at Queen’s University Belfast.