ISSUE48: FEBRUARY-APRIL 2007
network of research and training centres/programmes
Experts consider impact of climate change on indigenous peoples
The impact of climate change on indigenous peoples and how they are adapting to a warming world will be the key themes of the International Expert Meeting on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples, being organized by UNU Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) in conjunction with the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNFII) and the North Australia Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA).
The forum, scheduled April 2-4 in Darwin, Australia, will also explore factors that facilitate or obstruct the participation of indigenous peoples in climate change negotiations.
Specific objectives of the Expert Group Meeting are too:
- Promote an opportunity to exchange information on the effects of climate change.
- Draw attention to the impact of climate change on indigenous peoples, their livelihoods, cultural practices and lands and natural resources.
- Identify options and further plans to accommodate the many issues (ie migration) that indigenous peoples face as a result of climate change and identify possible solutions that maintain indigenous peoples’ identity and cultural integrity.
- Identify international institutions that may have an interest in working in partnership with indigenous peoples to address the issues in relation to adaptation, mitigation, monitoring and carbon emissions trading.
- Highlight good practice models; and
- Identify gaps and challenges and a possible way forward.
The final report of the Expert Group Meeting will be to be submitted to the seventh session of the UNPFII.
l Charles Darwin University (CDU) will host a public forum on the topic “Climate Change and Indigenous People in Tropical Australia” that will feed back into the International Expert Group Meeting. Key speakers will share their experiences of the impact of climate change on Indigenous people and will examine evidence of their adaptation to a changing environment.
The forum, a joint project between CDU, UNU-IAS and NAILSMA, will be held at the university's Casuarina campus on April 3 from 2:30-6 pm. The afternoon program will include a panel discussion, drawing together a group of climate change experts to discuss how traditional practices can provide possible solutions to managing climate. They also will examine factors that obstruct indigenous people’s participation in the climate change process, and explore opportunities for carbon projects employing traditional knowledge.
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