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Houston, Jacqui --- "At the Table or on the Menu? Indigenous Peoples' Engagement in Climate Change Policy" [2008] IndigLawB 14; (2008) 7(4) Indigenous Law Bulletin 19

At the Table or on the Menu? Indigenous Peoples' Engagement in Climate Change Policy

by Jacqui Houston

Each day our news is filled with grim warnings of impending climate change. We hear reports from researchers, both in Australia and overseas, who have made this analysis their life’s work and found that our climate is speeding toward a crisis of ecological and environmental change. What we don’t often hear however, is what these climate changes mean in practice. We know that turning off the light in a room that we’re leaving will reduce our energy consumption, but what do we know about how human populations will be affected by global warming? How will life change? Who is most at risk?

What we do know is that scientists, including those preparing reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (‘IPCC’), have confirmed that climate change will wreak its first effects upon the world’s most disadvantaged peoples; and that in fact it has already started to. As a peoples who suffer poorer health, have lower education, training, housing and employment levels, indigenous peoples of the world are, to paraphrase Patricia Cochran,[1] the world’s barometer on climate change.

In April of this year, the United Nations University – Institute of Advanced Studies (‘UNU-IAS’), the Northern Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (‘NAILSMA’) and the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, co-convened an International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change. Held in Darwin, Northern Territory, the meeting brought together experts from around the world, the vast majority representing their indigenous peoples. Focusing on four pre-defined themes this unique meeting on Australian soil discussed impacts of climate change; adaptation and mitigation measures; economic and ecological opportunities; and indigenous participation in policy making processes.[2]

Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change

Two papers presented to the Darwin meeting spoke specifically about the impact that climate change is having upon their indigenous peoples; their traditions, culture and way of life. Patricia Cochran, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, spoke of melting ice sheets and encroaching tides; of skilled hunters who had lost their lives when once-strong swathes of ice thinned and broke beneath their weight; and of rubbish tips, built away from the sea but which now sit perilously close to an ever approaching shoreline.[3] Towns within the Arctic region have already been forced to relocate as a result of melting sea ice claiming town boundaries and the community structures within. In addition to physical conditions forcing relocation, communities have had to contend with the insurgence of new species of plant and animal life. The introduction of foreign species to a marine or land environment not only threatens native species, but can also create a formidable obstruction to indigenous peoples attempting to continue traditional practices such as hunting.

After this, Fiu Mata’ese Elisara, an Indigenous Samoan and Executive Director of the O Le Siosiomaga Society Inc, spoke of the impact of climate change on not only his own island state but other island countries in the Pacific Ocean. Research shows that low-lying atolls such as Kiribati and Tuvalu are at risk from impending sea level rise. Storm surges and other flooding threaten fresh ground water in these regions, so vital to its inhabitants. Elisara spoke of farmers on Tuvalu growing root crops in tin containers to protect them from encroaching sea water. Echoing Patricia Cochran’s statements in regard to storm intensity and frequency, Elisara recounted the cyclones that had threatened the pacific region, and how they now appear more often than they have in the past.

Economic impacts featured strongly in Mr Elisara’s presentation, ranging from the suffering of indigenous peoples at the hands of governments that acquire indigenous lands to attract funds for Clean Development Mechanism[4] projects, through to the need for a review of the debt repayment obligations of developing countries. Elisara points out that many of these debts were generated through investments in infrastructure that is now severely threatened by climate change impacts. He speaks of the irony:

Many [developing countries] have to borrow more to retrofit previous investments, which are often funded, designed, and built by foreign leaders who are the root causes of climate change.[5]

Building on the subject of the disadvantage to developing countries (and by extension to indigenous peoples by virtue of their vulnerable circumstances even if not within a developing country) Elisara spoke of sharing climate change technology:

The developed world and the scientific community must find ways to quickly and freely place emerging green technologies and capabilities into the hands of those who need them most urgently. … [This is not charity, but] shrewd investments against future global catastrophes…[6]

In essence, Elisara’s paper spoke strongly of the imperative for resilience strategies to be formulated and implemented with and for indigenous peoples now, rather than wait for climate change to reach a crisis level.

Adaptation and Mitigation

Day two of the meeting saw Theme Two take the floor: ‘Adaptation and Mitigation Measures to Climate Change’. Our two presenters on this theme came from two vastly different areas. Kimberley Smith, a young Navajo woman from Arizona in the United States gave what was to be the only presentation that focused on (or indeed even looked at) the need for young indigenous people to be engaged in debate and action. Her presentation was followed by Rodion Sulyandziga from Russia.

Ms Smith’s presentation came from the perspective of an organisation which she established herself – the Miss Indigenous Youth Collective – which is incidentally the first reservation-based youth organisation on the Navajo lands. A strong theme running through Ms Smith’s paper was the role that exists for young people in learning about and taking action on climate change. Ms Smith expressed concerns that mines established in the area, with explicit support by successive US governments, have effectively made the Navajo peoples ‘economic hostages’. With Navajo Nation unemployment around 48 per cent and the average annual income just $US5,759 Navajo leaders give their support to mining developments in order to bring economic benefits to their people.

The abundance of natural resources has eased the unemployment on the nation. In exchange, we are plagued with water depletion, drought, relocation, toxic water, a rise in cancer and other respiratory illnesses.[7]

In her discussion on how these industries have depleted the Navajo Nation’s capacity to adapt and mitigate climate change impacts, Ms Smith detailed just some of the issues surrounding energy plants in the region. Starting with the Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico and also covering the Peabody Western Coal Company, the impact of waived pollution limits is made clear. The Four Corners plant not only produces almost 20 times the average amount of power generated by a US power plant, it is the

only coal-fired power plant in the nation to operate without enforceable federal, state, or tribal pollution limits for significant pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides. … The plant’s annual emission of nitrogen oxides, 40,742 tons, is the highest of all coal-fired power plants in the nation … [I]nstalling [emissions] reduction technology at the facility would reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by as much as 90%.[8]

Health figures for the Navajo peoples are poor and the link between poor health and the power plants and mines was set out in the presentation. Cancer rates among young people who reside near mine tailings are almost 17 times higher than the national average[9] and respiratory problems are common.

With another plant proposed for the Navajo lands, Ms Smith expressed the concerns of many of her people that once more, the community’s leaders will choose immediate economic development over long-term sustainability of both the environment and the Navajo peoples.

Rodion Sulyandziga, from the Center for Support of Indigenous Peoples of the North and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, spoke of indigenous participation in policy development and measures for adaptation. Early on in his paper, Sulyandziga spoke of what must be at the very heart of adaptation and mitigation measures in regard to climate change: full participation by indigenous peoples. To be successful, Sulyandziga says, measures to deal with the impact of climate change on indigenous peoples must be developed with their full participation. Therefore, capacity building is key to such development.

One of the greatest threats to indigenous peoples of the Arctic region is to their traditional way of life. Subsistence hunting, fishing and other practices are all under threat from melting glaciers, thinning ice and invasive species. Dealing already with the legacy of past rule which banned the use of traditional languages, Sulyandziga says that the fears of many Indigenous Russians is of enforced assimilation as an ‘adaptation measure’ in response to the impacts of climate change. Sustainable uses of land featured highly in the presentation in relation to the need for Indigenous peoples of Russia to build their capacity to make necessary adaptations to practices and ways of life as the environment warms.

Economic opportunities

Theme Three’s presentation came from Jean Fenton, representing meeting co-host NAILSMA. Ms Fenton spoke of the Indigenous ranger movement and other environmental services that are possible on traditional lands. Emissions trading, water trading and monitoring roles can all be undertaken within the spectre of a changing environment. Roles are currently carried out by Indigenous rangers in quarantine, monitoring and surveillance roles; essential roles considering the expected influx of invasive or otherwise foreign plant and animal species.

The benefits recognised as coming from the identification of important roles ‘on country’ in the mitigation of climate change are widespread for Indigenous people. Working on country ensures a secure continuation of culture and identity, and improves overall health.

NAILSMA’s most prominent climate change activity to date is arguably the West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement project. The project comes from an agreement made between Darwin Liquefied Natural Gas (‘DLNG’), the Northern Territory Government, the Northern Land Council, traditional owners and Indigenous representative organisations. The agreement provides for the strategic management of fires in west Arnhem Land by traditional owners, with emissions offsetting at the heart of the partnership. With strategic management, fires on the lands can be started and controlled early in the dry season, resulting in significantly lower emissions than if fires started later in the season. DLNG trades these lower emissions through the 17-year agreement which sees $1 million per year paid to traditional owners. This offsetting of DLNG’s emissions was the impetus behind the plant’s approval by the Northern Territory Government.

While one result of the project for traditional owners is a significantly lower incidence of unmanaged wildfires, other ‘flow-on’ benefits include an opportunity to manage traditional land and in doing so impart cultural knowledge and practices; improved economic viability of staying on country; and a reduction in the Northern Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions as a result of savanna fires.

The NAILSMA presentation led to a lot of discussion on community-developed solutions to climate change. While climate change is indeed a global crisis, its impacts are many and varied across diverse lands and cultures. It was universally recognised that, to be successful, strategies must be initiated and developed by indigenous peoples themselves. One attendee raised the point that most measures for mitigation, or indeed for ‘progress’ itself, have changed social dynamics dramatically, and this threat to the continuation of culture and tradition highlights how essential it is for measures to be brought about by communities themselves. Here the cycle of colonial oppression continues – the colonisers are also the polluters who then turn to indigenous peoples to tell them how to ‘adapt’ to cope with climate change; with ‘adaptation’ becoming synonymous with ‘assimilation’.

Policy Development

Rounding out the Meeting was Theme Four: Indigenous participation in strategy and policy development. Estebancio Castro Díaz from the Global Forest Coalition presented on indigenous peoples’ rights in regard to forest conservation and the impact that policy ‘solutions’ have on indigenous peoples. Castro Díaz gave a background to the exclusion of indigenous peoples from discussion and debate on climate change policy, up to and including the December 2007 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘UNFCCC’) meeting in Bali, Indonesia. The call by indigenous peoples for greater inclusion in decisions on adaptation and mitigation strategies reflects that fact that indigenous peoples are at the forefront of impacts. Schemes for reduction of emissions through deforestation and degradation ‘often violate the fundamental human rights of Indigenous Peoples’.[10] UNFCCC definitions such as those for ‘forest’ and ‘deforestation’, to name just two, have come under fire from indigenous people and advocates for their restrictive view which encourages entry into carbon markets for short-term profit over long-term sustainability. There needs to be a constant reminder that sustainability refers to more than the forests themselves, but to the lives of those on whose lands these forests exist.

Capacity building was again highlighted at the conclusion of the theme by John Scott, from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The direct link between capacity to participate in decision making on climate change and the recognition of the human rights of indigenous peoples was clearly shown by Scott. Further to this, Scott spoke of the need for plain-language to replace complex terminology in discussions on climate change strategies and policies in order to avoid alienation of sections of society. Compounding this is, according to Scott, the lack of culturally appropriate mechanisms for participation.

Conclusion

If there were to be any fault to pick in the meeting itself, it would be the lack of comparative bases among the presentations. With presenters presumably aiming to meet the criteria of a defined theme, one result is that information sharing across nations was restricted. Admittedly, climate change impacts differ across the vast and divergent landscapes of the world’s indigenous nations, however this meeting did not truly allow delegates to learn of these impacts. Similar findings exist across the remaining three themes. Having said this, the empowering nature of such a gathering cannot be denied. Aside from the summary report and recommendations being taken to the Seventh Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (New York, 21 April - 2 May 2008), indigenous delegates are likely to have left the Darwin meeting with a greater sense of the issues around indigenous participation in climate change policy and strategy development. While learning from alternate perspectives, experiences, and positions, as a collective this meeting will inform future action on climate change. In the enduring struggle for indigenous voices to be heard – and listened to – this strength of solidarity and understanding is crucial. As one participant told the meeting, indigenous people need to be ‘at the table’ when strategies to deal with climate change are formulated. But, he added, be careful. If you’re not at the table, you might just be on the menu.

Jacqui Houston is the editor of the Indigenous Law Bulletin and project director of the Indigenous Law Centre’s research into the human rights implications of climate change for Indigenous Australians <www.ilc.unsw.edu.au/research/climate_change.asp>. In September-October the Indigenous Law Bulletin will publish a Special Focus Edition on Climate Change. For further details, please contact the editor.

Presentations from the United Nations International Expert Meeting on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples can be accessed via <http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/EGM_CS08.html> .


[1] Patricia Cochran, ‘The Arctic: Indicator of Global Change’ (Paper presented to the International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples & Climate Change, Darwin, 2-4 April 2008) 5.

[2] ‘Programme of Work’, International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change, Darwin, 2-4 April 2008.

[3] Cochran, above n 1.

[4] For further explanation of the Clean Development Mechanism scheme, see <http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/mechanisms/clean_development_mechanism/items/2718.php> .

[5] Fiu Mata’ese Elisara, (Paper presented to the International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples & Climate Change, Darwin, 2-4 April 2008) 5.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Kimberley Smith, ‘Climate Change on the Navajo Nation Lands’ (Paper presented to the International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples & Climate Change, Darwin, 2-4 April 2008) 4.

[8] Ibid 4-5.

[9] Ibid 7.

[10] Estebancio Castro Díaz, ‘Climate Change, Forest Conservation and Indigenous Peoples' Rights’ (Paper presented to the International Expert Group Meeting in Indigenous Peoples & Climate Change, Darwin, 2-4 April 2008) 4.


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