Wai 796 report good for the climate

MEDIA RELEASE: 'Wai 796 report good for the climate'
DATE: EMBARGOED UNTIL 12pm, 22nd December 2010
FROM: Climate Justice Taranaki

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Wai 796 report good for the climate

"The waitangi Tribunal 796 Report on the Management of the Petroleum  Resource, released today, is a clear finding that the Crown breached  the rights and protection of tangata whenua promised in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. If the Tribunal's recommendations are accepted by the crown it will be a step towards greater community involvement in decision-making and stronger environmental protections. We expect the crown won't accept but it's good to make the communities demands  heard" said Climate Justice Taranaki and Otaraua hapu member Emily Bailey.

"This month's disastrous Cancun climate talks put tackling climate change into the hands of fossil fuel companies, the capitalist market and corrupt governments. Most specialists have come out saying that
the change in management will now increase world temperatures by 7°C resulting in near global genocide of the poor" continued Bailey.

For decades the oil and gas industry has been making billions of dollars from the Taranaki region with very little coming to local communities and environmental protections near zero. Maori have
consistently called for greater protections and mining access to be disallowed in some areas. The crown delegated responsibility to councils who were allowed to disregard the legal rights of tangata
whenua, under the Resource Management Act and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and imposed access licences that caused the destruction of over 100 waahi tapu in the rohe of one Taranaki hapu alone.

Under the so-called management of these councils we had NZ's largest oil spill near Okato in 2007, which saw a pitiful fine of only $105,000 paid by the polluter. Two more oil spills this year were
barely even reported because they happened outside of council jurisdiction.

Now, more oil and gas exploration permits have just been awarded to numerous multi-national companies, covering an area of nearly 300,000 square kilometres. This is over 42 times the current area being mined for oil and gas.

"It's crazy. We are supposed to be reducing greenhouse gas emissions not majorly increasing them. The permitted land, sea and air discharges could seriously pollute groundwater and soils, wipe out marinelife and threaten livelihoods not just locally but globally through the added effects of climate chaos" added Bailey.

"We will not watch silently as Papatuanuku and Ranginui are threatened by profit-driven companies for the benefit of the rich. Instead, we are organising a movement here in Taranaki to confront and stop the
rampant mining and stand in solidarity with people across the world who are resisting at the front lines of climate change" read a statement by Climate Justice Taranaki.

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NOTES:

1. Climate Justice Taranaki is part of the Climate Camp Aotearoa (CCA) network. CCA is part of the inernational Climate Justice Action Network which calls for horizontal organising of direct action and
people-based solutions, not market solutions to climate change.

2. A hui is planned for early 2011 in Taranaki to discuss plans to stop the mining

There once was an Island

Environmental refugees in the Pacific:

One of the first films to record a community evacuating their home because of climate change

Haere Atu No Co2lonialism in the Pacific-Te Ata Tino Toa on the Social & Climate Justice Caravan

Indigenous peoples in the Pacific have found the great ocean of Kiwa, a spiritual &cultural home for thousands upon thousands of years. We lived in harmony with our environment and each other; we were self-sufficient and had 100% of our lands, Culture, custom and language. White supremacist, Capitalist Imperialism & genocide shattered that world for many Indigenous peoples in the Pacific last century.

We live with the repercussions of that history of genocide & dispossession every day. Colonisation in the Pacific continues in the models of development that are being sold through a masquerade of trade," governance & security, & market based ‘solutions’ to climate change.

Te Ata Tino Toa, (a collective of Maori activists) are looking forward to forging a strong collective understanding & response to the dual threats of neo liberalism & climate change in the Pacific on the Climate Caravan .

The Social & Climate Justice Caravan 2009 wants to link the protests against the WTO with the protests against the climate summit. Between 3rd and 9th December, 60 representatives from global movements from the South will drive two routes from Geneva to Copenhagen. The Western route goes through Paris and Brussels, the Eastern one through Freiburg, Frankfurt and Cologne, including a delegation to Berlin. The activists will meet p in Hamburg in order to drive together over the Danish border to Copenhagen. With public meetings, discussions and actions planned, the caravan wants to draw attention to the consequences of trade liberalisation and climate change on people in the global South. Through meetings and workshops, participants seek to establish networks with local activists and hope to mobilize as many people as possible to Copenhagen.

Te Ata Tino Toa are representative of the long tradition of struggle and resistance by Maori against colonisation and the Crown sponsored theft of Maori land and resources. Maori continue to resist the pressures of colonisation and cultural and economic genocide. Such a concept embraces the spiritual link Maori have with 'Papatuanuku' (Earthmother) and is a part of the international drive by indigenous peoples for self determination."

The Pacific, is facing huge stress & huge regional pressures. Climate change is a clear and present danger to the Pacific peoples, land, lives; culture & peoples are at risk. Climate change is no distant threat it is happening now. Rising sea levels are eating up the land of the islands, salination means more & more arable lands for cultivation become untenable. The human face of climate change in the Pacific, is heart breaking, land is the cornerstone of the heart of all Indigenous peoples.

…….From Genvea

For much of the past decade the Pacific Islands Countries have faced immense pressure from NZ & Australia, and aid donors to move towards trade liberalisation through new free trade agreements (FTAs).

Free trade agreements involving the region include the Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA), the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, and the extension of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) with Australia and New Zealand to include deeper “economic integration”.

The move towards free trade is driven largely by the interests of business (exporters, service suppliers and potential new investors) based in the Pacific’s developed-country ‘partners’. Clothed in benevolent, paternal words, greed & racism lie at the heart of Pacer-Plus, pushing the western, neoliberal way of doing things on the Pacific.




To Copenhagen

Te Ata Tino Toa stand with all Indigenous peoples of the Pacific. Together we can ensure those most responsible for climate change are held responsible and those most affected by are supported. In the defence of land rights, & our collective responsibility to care for lands, forests, our oceans & peoples. Pacific peoples standing together for mother earth & for lives of dignity, and self determination.


“Indigenous peoples of the Pacific are deeply alarmed by the accelerating climate devastation brought about by unsustainable development, and we are experiencing profound and disproportionate adverse impacts on our Pacific cultures, human and environmental health, human rights, well-being, traditional livelihoods, food systems and food sovereignty, local infrastructure, economic viability and our very survival as Indigenous peoples.


Consumer nations must adequately address the issue of ecological debt to the global south and not shift liability for their own unsustainable production and consumption to those nations not responsible for the high level of climate emissions.

We demand that forests not be included in carbon trading schemes, and call on all governments to halt deforestation and keep fossil fuels in the ground; not trade one for the other. “ (Nukualofa Declaration)

Against all the odds, and the threats we face to our lands, our cultures, and our ways of life in the pacific, we have survived and we continue to resist. Evolutionary processes have taken their course in the Pacific and the time has come for us to reach out across the vast ocean that binds us to support each other’s struggles and to halt the annihilation that we as peoples are facing.

I will be live tweeting 27th Nov onwards http://twitter.com/uriohau #climatejustice #Pacific

Nuku Alofa declaration*

Nuku Alofa declaration*

From 29 to 31 July 2009, over 15 participants from 8 different countries in the Pacific/Oceania region, from Indigenous peoples, civil society and governments, gathered in Tonga to discuss global issues that severely impact our region on a daily basis: climate change, forest protection, and the role of Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Preamble

We [Indigenous peoples of the Pacific] are deeply alarmed by the accelerating climate devastation brought about by unsustainable development, and we are experiencing profound and disproportionate adverse impacts on our Pacific cultures, human and environmental health, human rights, wellbeing, traditional livelihoods, food systems and food sovereignty, local infrastructure, economic viability and our very survival as Indigenous peoples.

Consumer nations must adequately address the issue of ecological debt to the global south and not shift liability for their own unsustainable production and consumption to those nations not responsible for the high level of climate emissions.

We remind the parties that Indigenous peoples are on the front line of climate change, whether they are from “developed” nations or not, and do not automatically have access to the benefits of a developed economy.

Call for Action

We are concerned that in its current form REDD is misleading and is a false solution to climate change, erodes Indigenous land rights and fails to account for the long term and ongoing conservation and land management of forested areas by Indigenous peoples and forest dependent communities.

We call for all nations in the Pacific to sign on to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

We call for any agreement on forests to fully and explicitly uphold the rights under UNDRIP, the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

All rights under UNDRIP must be included in the CBD and UNFCCC, and the customary and territorial land rights of Indigenous Peoples and forest-dependent communities must be recognised and enforced by any international agreement on forest policy.

We call for the suspension of all REDD initiatives in Indigenous lands and territories until such a time as Indigenous peoples’ rights are fully recognised and promoted, and community consent has been obtained.

The linkage of REDD to markets risks allows Annex-1 countries to avoid responsibility for reducing emissions in their own countries and could even increase net carbon emissions. Carbon offsetting and the inclusion of REDD credits in carbon markets will do nothing to address the underlying causes of climate change, nor will carbon offsetting and market mechanisms provide the predictable and reliable funding required for addressing deforestation.

We demand that forests not be included in carbon trading schemes, and call on all governments to halt deforestation and keep fossil fuels in the ground; not trade one for the other. Forests need to be protected, but they must be protected by strengthening and enforcing forest legislation, not using market mechanisms.

We support the call for binding emissions reductions targets for Annex 1 countries of at least 45% below 1990 levels by 2020, and at least 95% by 2050. Annex 1 countries must therefore deliver on their commitments to making real and effective emission reductions.

We call for real and genuine solutions to climate change, not false solutions like ocean fertilisation, REDD, biofuels and monocultures for plantations that erode and violate the rights of Indigenous peoples and forest-dependant communities, and destroy biodiversity.

Any definition of forests must strongly differentiate between plantations and natural forests to incorporate fundamental Indigenous understandings of forests and account for the vast differences in carbon storage capacity.

We call for accurate carbon accounting on forests, and for ANY funding for the reduction of emissions from deforestation and degradation, and appropriate technology transfer to be prioritised for community-based forest management schemes, managed through strengthened mechanisms within the UNFCCC. Donor nations should not fund international financial institutions like the World Bank to implement projects that support flawed solutions to climate change.

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* This is an edited version of the Declaration

See Also:

Pacific Comments on REDD

Special guest article from Fiu Mata’ese Elisara/Executive Director of OLSSI, Samoa

Press Conference- Report Calls for the Rejection of REDD in Climate Treaty Part 1 of 3

Indigenous Environmental Network calls for alternative solutions that reduce emissions, protect forests and respect rights

Press Conference (Part 1 of 3)
October 1, 2009
Bangkok, Thailand

Contact:
Indigenous Environmental Network
Tom Goldtooth
+1 218 760 0442
ien@igc.org

Tuvalu - Islands on the frontline of Climate Change

Tuvalu - Islands on the frontline of Climate Change from panos pictures on Vimeo.

With photography by Robin Hammond of Panos Pictures, this multimedia piece looks at the island nation of Tuvalu, as the Tuvaluan people become some of the first environmental refugees, a direct result of man-made climate change.



In December this year a treaty to replace the Kyoto protocol will be drawn up at the climate change conference in Copenhagen. At a preliminary summit in March, scientists presented new information that revised previous estimates of future sea level rise. The new figures suggest that by the end of the century the oceans could be one metre or more above their current levels. Coastal regions will be flooded and low-lying nations such as the tiny South Pacific country of Tuvalu could be submerged.



The impact of rising seas and the increase in extreme weather events can already be seen in Tuvalu. It is one of 22 Pacific island nations with 7 million inhabitants between them that contribute only 0.06% of global greenhouse gas emissions but are three times more vulnerable to climate change than countries in the North.



At the primary school in Funafuti, children are taught about climate change from the age of six. They are also learning what it means to emigrate, because this could be the last generation of children to grow up in Tuvalu. Its people are already in flight. More than 4,000 live in New Zealand, and the Tuvaluan government is planning the migration of the remaining 10,000.

See also: Pacific Islanders call for justice on climate and human rights

Voices from the frontline: Pacific Islands speakers tour

During July hear first hand accounts of the impacts of climate change on our Pacific neighbours. Oxfam and Greenpeace have combined to bring local leaders from the Pacific nations of Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) to Australia for a series of public meetings.

"The future of Kiribati is in our hands - we work very hard each year to support and help students to be successsful. But what is the future of our children when our country is being threatened by global warming?"

– Pelenise Alofa Pilitati, a speaker on the tour from Kiribati

All three of these low-lying island states are in grave danger from climate change. Sea level rise, tidal surges, salination of crops and fresh water, coral bleaching and loss of fisheries are already affecting these countries. Some Pacific islanders have also been forced to relocate because of climate change.

The realities of climate change in the Pacific underscore the urgent need for a global agreement on climate change. It is not too late to ensure that the Pacific has a future. To do this the Australian government must take strong action and commit to cut greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2020. To assist the Pacific and other developing nations to deal with the unavoidable effects of climate change the Australian government must commit to pay our fair share into a UN fund to assist developing nations cut their emissions and adapt to climate change.

Dates and Venues

Sydney
When: Thursday 23 July, 7 – 8.30pm (registration from 6.30pm)
Where: Mitchell Theatre, Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, 280 Pitt St, Sydney
Speakers: Reverend Tafue Lusama and Pelenise Alofa Pilitati

Brisbane
When: Tuesday 28 July, 6.30 – 8 pm (registration from 6pm)
Where: Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane Room
Speakers: Marstella Jack, Reverend Tafue Lusama, Pelenise Alofa Pilitati, Sam Reuben (Torres Strait Islands) and John Kris (Chair, Torres Strait Regional Authority)

Melbourne
When: Thursday 30 July, 6.30 – 8pm
Where: Melbourne Town Hall, Supper Room
Speakers: Marstella Jack, Reverend Tafue Lusama and Pelenise Alofa Pilitati

Cairns
When: Sunday 2 August, 4 - 5.30pm
Where: TBC

Other climate change talks

Solving the Climate Crisis Talk
When: Saturday, 25th July, 1pm
Where: Theatre G, Australian Museum, 6 College St, Sydney
Speakers: John Hepburn and Pelenise Alofa Pilitati
The talk is free with general entry to the Museum. General entry is $12 (adults) and $8 (concession).

The Perfect Storm - Australia's role in dealing with the triple crunch of the global financial crisis, climate change and rising food prices
ALP Conference Forum by Oxfam Australia and the Centre for Policy Development
When: Friday 31 July, 6 – 7.30pm
Where: Sussex Room, Crowne Plaza, 150 Day Street, Darling Harbour, Sydney
Speakers: Sharan Burrow, Andrew Hewett, Reverend Tafue Lusama, Ian Dunlop and Ben McNeil

The speakers

Pelenise Alofa Pilitati - Chairperson Church Education Director's Association in Kiribati (CEDAK), Managing Director, Kauaoki Foundation Enterprise, Kiribati

Pelenise says that climate change is about survival for the people of Kiribati. "The future of Kiribati is in our hands - we work very hard each year to support and help students to be successsful. But what is the future of our children when our country is being threatened by global warming?"

Reverend Tafue Lusama - Chairperson Tuvula Climate Action Network, Program Secretary Church of Tuvalu Dept Peace and Justice, Pastor, Christian Church of Tuvalu.

Tuvalu has already seen significant internal relocation of citizens as a result of climate change and could be the first nation in the world to disappear because of rising sea levels. Reverend Tafue is a compelling advocate for action on climate change.

Marstella Jack - Former Attorney General, Federated States of Micronesia

Marstella has recently returned from the United Nations Intersessional meeting on climate change that took place in Bonn. She is acutely aware of why these global negotiations are so important for Pacific nations.

How you can help

• Attend the speakers tour
• Demand our government take action to save the Pacific

source: http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/climate-change/take-action/pacific-speakers-tour/

We hope that these series of community forums will generate enough public support and media interests, leading up to the Pacific Islands Heads of Government Meeting in Cairns (Australia) in August, 2009.

Please forward this to your friends and networks.
Thank you for your support

An Uncertain Future

An uncertain future from Pacific Black Box Inc on Vimeo.

A documentary made by young people in Bougainville earlier this year (2008), at a forum organised by Pacific Black Box Inc in conjunction with local NGOs. Some of the youth involved were from the Cartaret Islands, whose land is sinking under the ocean and who are being relocated on mainland Bougainville. The project aimed to give a voice to these young people about their situation and climate change.For more information please visit PBB's website at :
pacificblackbox.com.au

Tokelau: Still Afloat on the High Seas (part 3)

Tokelau: Still Afloat on the High Seas (part2)

Tokelau: Still Afloat on the High Seas (part 1)

Scoop Documentary: For the people inhabiting Tokelau - one of the most remote and beautiful islands of the Pacific -- their want, their determination, is to be a living breathing example of climate change adaptation rather than become a case-study of catastrophe. Produced by Selwyn Manning.

Indigenous peoples hardest hit by climate change describe impacts

Biofuel production, renewable energy expansion, other mitigation measures uprooting indigenous peoples in many regions

Indigenous peoples have contributed the least to world greenhouse gas emissions and have the smallest ecological footprints on Earth. Yet they suffer the worst impacts not only of climate change, but also from some of the international mitigation measures being taken, according to organizers of a United Nations University co-hosted meeting April 3 in Darwin, Australia.

Impacts of climate change on indigenous people worldwide include:

• In tropical and sub-tropical areas, an increase in diseases associated with higher temperatures and vector-borne and water-borne diseases like cholera, malaria and dengue fever;

• Worsening drought conditions and desertification, leading to more forest fires that disrupt subsistence agriculture, hunting and gathering livelihoods, as well as serious biodiversity loss;

• Distinct changes in the seasonal appearance of birds, the blooming of flowers, etc. These now occur earlier or are decoupled from the customary season or weather patterns;

• In arid and semi-arid lands: excessive rainfall and prolonged droughts, resulting in dust storms that damage grasslands, seedlings, other crops and livestock;

• In the Arctic, stronger waves, thawing permafrost and melting mountain glaciers and sea-ice, bringing coastal and riverbank erosion;

• Smaller animal populations and the introduction of new marine species due to changing animal travel and migration routes;

• In Boreal Forests, new types of insects and longer-living endemic insects (e.g. spruce beetles) that destroy trees and other vegetation;

• In coastal regions and small-island states, erosion, stronger hurricanes and typhoons, leading to the loss of freshwater supplies, land, mangrove forests and dislocation (environmental refugees);

• Increasing food insecurity due to declining fish populations and coral bleaching;

• Crop damaging pest infestations (e.g. locusts, rats, spruce beetles, etc.), and increasing food costs due to competition with the demand for biofuels;

• Extreme and unprecedented cold spells resulting in health problems (e.g. hypothermia, bronchitis, and pneumonia, especially for the old and young).

As well, indigenous people point to an increase in human rights violations, displacements and conflicts due to expropriation of ancestral lands and forests for biofuel plantations (soya, sugar-cane, jatropha, oil-palm, corn, etc.), as well as for carbon sink and renewable energy projects (hydropower dams, geothermal plants), without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous people.

Specific instances of indigenous people being harmed by climate change mitigation measures include the case of a Dutch company whose operations include planting trees and selling sequestered carbon credit to people wanting to offset their emissions caused by air travel. In March 2002, its project was certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and from 1999 to 2002 over 7,000 hectares of land were planted in Uganda.

The Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA), responsible for managing all national parks, forced indigenous people to leave the area. Forced evictions continued to 2002, leading indigenous people to move to neighboring villages, caves and mosques. Over 50 people were killed in 2004.

Meanwhile, indigenous peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia have been uprooted by the aggressive expansion of oil palm plantations for biofuel production. Likewise, nuclear waste sites and hydroelectric dam-building displace indigenous peoples from their ancestral territories.

Participants in Darwin, Australia will hear first hand the impact of climate change on indigenous peoples and how they are adapting to a warming world. They will also explore factors that facilitate or obstruct the participation of indigenous peoples in international processes and deliberations related to reducing emissions and emissions trading.

Entitled the International Expert Meeting on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples, the event is being organized by UNU’s Japan-based 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).

(Papers / documentation are available online at www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/EGM_CS08.html)

Specific objectives of the meeting:

• 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 advance plans to address migration and many other issues faced by indigenous peoples due to climate change;
• Identify international institutions interested in partnership with indigenous peoples;
• Highlight good practice models; and
• Identify information gaps and prescribe a way forward.

The meeting’s final report will be to be submitted to the seventh session of the UNPFII.

“Indigenous peoples regard themselves as the mercury in the world’s climate change barometer,” says UNU-IAS Director A.H. Zakri. “They have not benefited, in any significant manner, from climate change-related funding, whether for adaptation and mitigation, nor from emissions trading schemes. The mitigation measures for climate change are very much market-driven and the non-market measures have not been given much attention. We hope this meeting will help address that imbalance.”

Adds Dr. Zakri: “Most indigenous peoples practice sustainable carbon neutral lives or even carbon negative life ways which has sustained them over thousands of years.

“There are at least 370 million indigenous people throughout the world living relatively neutral or even carbon negative life styles. While not a large number when compared to the world population of 6 billion, it does have a substantial impact in lowering emissions. Compare this to the impact of the United States, with a population of 300 million -- only 4% of the world’s population – but responsible for about 25 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions.”

The meeting will also hear how indigenous people are adapting to changing climate conditions.

In Bangladesh, for example, villagers are creating floating vegetable gardens to protect their livelihoods from flooding. In Vietnam, communities are helping to plant dense mangroves along the coast to diffuse tropical-storm waves.

Additional background follows.

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A brief overview of climate change effects on indigenous people:

Africa

There are 2.5 million kilometers of dunes in southern Africa covered in vegetation and used for grazing. However the rise in temperatures and the expected dune expansion, along with increased wind speeds, will result in the region losing most of its vegetation cover and become less viable for indigenous peoples living in the region.

As their traditional resource base diminishes, traditional practices of cattle and goat farming will disappear. There are already areas where indigenous peoples are forced to live around government-drilled bores for water and depend on government support for their survival. Deteriorating food security is a major issue for indigenous peoples residing in these drylands.

Asia

In Asia’s tropical rainforests, a haven for biodiversity, as well as indigenous peoples’ cultural diversity, temperatures are expected to rise 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, rainfall may decrease, prompting crop failures and forest fires.

People in low-lying areas of Bangladesh could be displaced by a one-meter rise in sea levels. Such a rise could also threaten the coastal zones of Japan and China. The impact will mean that salt water could intrude on inland rivers, threatening some fresh water supplies.

In the Himalayas high altitude regions, glacial melts affect hundreds of millions of rural dwellers who depend on the seasonal flow of water. There might be more water short term but less long term as glaciers and snow cover shrink.

The poor, many of whom are indigenous peoples, are highly vulnerable to climate change in urban areas because of their limited access to profitable livelihood opportunities and will be exposed to more flood and other climate-related risks in areas where they are forced to live.

Central and South America and the Caribbean

This very diverse region ranges from the Chilean deserts to the tropical rainforests of Brazil and Ecuador, to the high altitudes of the Peruvian Andes.

As elsewhere, indigenous peoples’ use of biodiversity is central to environmental management and livelihoods. In the Andes, alpine warming and deforestation threaten access to plants and crops for food, medicine, grazing animals and hunting.

Earth’s warming surface is forcing indigenous peoples in this region to farm at higher altitudes to grow their staple crops, which adds to deforestation. Not only does this affect water sources and leads to soil erosion, it also has a cultural impact. The uprooting of Andean indigenous people to higher lands puts their cultural survival at risk.

In Ecuador, unexpected frosts and long droughts affect all farming activities. The older generation says they no longer know when to sow because rain does not come as expected. Migration offers one way out but represents a cultural threat.

In the Amazon, the effects of climate change will include deforestation and forest fragmentation and, as a result, more carbon released into the atmosphere, exacerbating climate change. The droughts of 2005 resulted in western Amazon fires, which are likely to recur as rainforest is replaced by savannas, severely affecting the livelihoods of the region’s indigenous peoples.

Coastal Caribbean communities are often the center of government activities, ports and international airports. Rapid and unplanned movements of rural and outer island indigenous residents to the major centers is underway, putting pressure on urban resources, creating social and economic stresses, and increasing vulnerability to hazardous weather conditions such as cyclones and diseases.

The relationship between climate change and water security will be a major issue in the Caribbean, where many countries are dependant on rainfall and groundwater.

Arctic

The polar regions are now experiencing some of Earth’s most rapid and severe climate change. Indigenous peoples, their culture and the whole ecosystem that they interact with is very much dependent on the cold and the extreme physical conditions of the Arctic region.

Indigenous peoples depend on polar bears, walrus, seals and caribou, herding reindeer, fishing and gathering not only for food and to support the local economy, but also as the basis for their cultural and social identity. Among concerns facing indigenous peoples: availability of traditional food sources, growing difficulty with weather prediction and travel safety in changing ice and weather conditions.

According to indigenous peoples, sea ice is less stable, unusual weather patterns are occurring, vegetation cover is changing, and particular animals are no longer found in traditional hunting areas. Local landscapes, seascapes and icescapes are becoming unfamiliar.

Peoples across the Arctic region report changes in the timing, length and character of the seasons, including more rain in autumn and winter and more extreme heat in summer. In several Alaskan villages, entire indigenous communities may have to relocate due to thawing permafrost and large waves slamming against the west and northern shores. Coastal indigenous communities are severely threatened by storm-related erosion due to melting sea ice. Up to 80% of Alaskan communities, comprised mainly of indigenous peoples, are vulnerable to either coastal or river erosion.

In Nunavut, elders can longer predict the weather using their traditional knowledge. Many important summer hunting grounds cannot be reached. Drying and smoking foods is more difficult due to summer heat undermining the storage of traditional foods for the winter.

In Finland, Norway and Sweden, rain and mild winter weather often prevents reindeer from accessing lichen, a vital food source, forcing many herders to feed their reindeer with fodder, which is expensive and not economically viable long term. For Saami communities, reindeers are vital to their culture, subsistence and economy.

Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Trans-Caucasia

Survival of indigenous peoples, who depend on fishing, hunting and agriculture, also depends on the success of their fragile environment and its resources. As bears and other wild game disappear, people in local villages will suffer particular hardships. Worse, unique indigenous cultures, traditions and languages will face major challenges maintaining their diversity.

Indigenous peoples have noticed the arrival of new plant species that thrive in rivers and lakes, including the small flowered duckweed which has made survival difficult for fish. New bird species have also arrived and birds now stay longer than before.

Changes in reindeer migration and foraging patterns, sparked by fluctuating weather patterns, cause problems also in this region, whose indigenous people have witnessed unpredictable and unstable weather and shorter winters.

North America

About 1.2 million North American tribal members live on or near reservations, and many pursue lifestyles with a mix of traditional subsistence activities and wage labour. Many reservation economies and budgets of indigenous governments depend heavily on agriculture, forest products and tourism.

Global warming is predicted to cause less snowfall and more droughts in many parts of North America, which will have a significant impact on indigenous peoples. Water resources and water quality may decrease while extended heat waves will increase evaporation and deplete underground water resources. There may be impacts on health, plant cover, wildlife populations, tribal water rights and individual agricultural operations, and a reduction of tribal services due to decrease in income from land leases.

Natural disasters such as blizzards, ice storms, floods, electric power outages, transportation problems, fuel depletion and food supply shortages will isolate indigenous communities.

Higher temperatures will result in the loss of native grass and medicinal plants, as well as erosion that allows the invasion of non-native plants. The zones of semi-arid and desert shrubs, cactus, and sagebrush will move northward. Finally, fire frequency could also increase with more fuel and lightning strikes, degrading the land and reducing regional bio-diversity.

Pacific

Most of the Pacific region comprises small island states affected by rising sea levels. Environmental changes are prominent on islands where volcanoes build and erode; coral atolls submerge and reappear and the islands’ biodiversity is in flux. The region has suffered extensively from human disasters such as nuclear testing, pollution, hazardous chemicals and wastes like Persistent Organic Pollutants, and solid waste management and disposal.

High tides flood causeways linking villages. This has been particularly noticeable in Kiribati and a number of other small Pacific island nations that could be submerged in this century.

Migration will become a major issue. For example, the people of Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville atoll island of Cartaret have asked to be moved to higher ground on the mainland. The people of Sikaiana Atoll in the Solomon Islands have been migrating primarily to Honiara, the capital. There has been internal migration from the outer islands of Tuvalu to the capital Funafuti. Almost half of Tuvalu’s population now resides on the Funafuti atoll, with negative environmental consequences, including increased demand on local resources.

Warmer temperatures have led to the bleaching of the Pacific Island ’s main source of survival – the coral reefs. The algae that help feed coral is loosened and, because the algae give them colour, the starved corals look pale. Continued bleaching ultimately kills corals. Coral reefs are an important shelter for organisms and the reduction of reef-building corals is likely to have a major impact on biodiversity. Tropical fishery yields are on the decline worldwide and it is now clear that the conditions may become critical for the local fish population.

Agriculture in the Pacific region, especially in small island states, is becoming increasingly vulnerable due to heat stress on plants and saltwater incursions. Hence, food security is of great concern to the region.

Contact: Terry Collins
terrycollins@rogers.com
416-538-8712
United Nations University

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APEC Climate Action at Loy Yang Power Station

On Monday September 3rd 2007 activists shut down down part of the Loy Yang power station in Gippsland's Latrobe Valley to coincide with APEC leaders meeting in Sydney. The protest aimed to highlight the inaction on climate change by APEC member governments.

http://www.realactiononclimatechange.blogspot.com/

Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change Front Lines

OXFORD, UK, April 19, 2007 (ENS) - The Inuit of the Arctic can no longer hunt safely as the ice is breaking up around them. Pacific Islanders are losing coral atolls beneath rising seas. Caribbean islanders are battered by violent storms. Tribes in Borneo watch as their rainforests catch fire. Tibetans wonder why their sacred glaciers are melting and why the alpine medicinal plants are disappearing.

The threat of climate change to the world’s indigenous peoples was under the spotlight April 12 and 13 at an international symposium at Oxford University.

Participants agreed that communication among indigenous peoples and with scientists and policymakers is critical in adapting to the climate changes already underway and averting the worst consequences of global warming.

Visiting Fellow at Oxford University Dr. Jan Salick, host of the Oxford Indigenous People’s Symposium, said, "Both ethnoecological researchers and indigenous people themselves need to network and initiate comparable climate change research and action."

"Indigenous peoples must be integrated into discussions of climate change and policy formation," he said.

Two Inuit men test thickness of the ice in the Canadian Arctic. (Photo courtesy Environment Canada)

Scientists presented new research on the impacts of climate change on the indigenous Peoples of the Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, North America, South America, Africa and Europe where they depend directly on natural resources threatened by global warming.

The recent climate change summary report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, only mentioned "detrimental impacts ... to traditional indigenous ways of life’ in the Polar regions."

Yet according to the symposium organizers from Oxford's Environmental Change Institute, "Indigenous Peoples are in the immediate frontline of vulnerability to climate change.

"Although they have a global geographic spread and broad cultural diversity, there is a risk that the international climate change forum has lost sight of the immense collective danger they face," the organizers said.

Pablo Eyzaguirre from Bioversity International, an international agricultural research center, said, "Indigenous and traditional communities should be supported in their unique adaptation to marginal areas and ecosystem boundaries. We need to respect ecosystem buffers that also provide livelihoods, sacred spaces, and pathways for traditional peoples."

The symposium's opening session consisted of a general overview of climate change impacts and implications on the global scale. Director of the Environmental Change Institute, Professor Diana Liverman reviewed recent publications, such as the Stern and IPCC reports, global, British and EU policy developments, and initiatives developed by non-state actors such as corporations, cities and nongovernmental organizations.

Bedouins travel across Senegal's burning sands. (Photo courtesy SalySenegal)

Presentaters stressed the multifaceted nature of climate changes, not only in the wide variety of impacts, but also in the interplay with other processes such as inter-annual variation, habitat fragmentation, loss of biodiversity, disempowerment, insecurity, and lack of understanding.

Recurrent topics were the role that indigenous and local peoples play in maintaining and strengthening the resilience of healthy ecosystems, as well as the spiritual, emotional and moral implications of climate changes to local peoples.

Many indigenous peoples are showing how resourceful they are in applying their traditional knowledge to create strategies for lessening the impacts of natural disasters.

Some use strips of mangrove forest to absorb the force of tidal surges and tsunamis, others apply genetic diversity in crops to avoid total crop failure, and some communities migrate among habitats as disaster strikes, participants heard.

The symposium ended with a continuing planning session on conjoined research and action for and by indigenous and local peoples to afford them more prominence in the international climate change discussion and action.