One of the most celebrated outcomes of COP23 was the operationalization of Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP). ECO congratulates Parties for establishing a path to enable the UNFCCC to improve recognition of the perspectives and rights of Indigenous Peoples and their importance for climate action.
Building on this success, LCIPP negotiations resumed positively last week. However, this positive spirit seemed lost yesterday during the final negotiations on the establishment of a Facilitative Working Group. One Party, in particular, laid out red lines and used provisions from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) to curtail, rather than strengthen, the work of the Platform and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
As a result, the negotiations have not yet been finalised and left many issues, both technical and highly political, were left unresolved. Parties now have one final chance to conclude discussions lest the decisions forwarded to Katowice overwhelm the already-packed COP24 agenda.
Mitigating climate change in line with the Paris temperature goals and building more resilient societies requires the contribution of all – in particular learning from communities, traditional knowledge keepers and Indigenous Peoples’ experiences. It also includes respecting the interrelated, interdependent, and indivisible rights of Indigenous Peoples including those reaffirmed in UNDRIP, when developing solutions to the climate crisis.
We hope that all Parties fully embrace this principle and support the work of the LCIPP so that it can contribute to the sharing and strengthening of traditional knowledge, building of capacity and facilitating the integration of the perspectives and rights of Indigenous Peoples in climate policies.
The Parties surprised ECO last November with their ability to find common ground and to uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples in this process. We count on you to do so once again today!