Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment Initiative
Encyclopedia
The Indigenous Peoples' Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative (IPCCA) is an international indigenous research initiative arising out of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
, where it was noted:
At the Seventh Session of the Permanent Forum, held from 21 April to 2 May 2008, it was recommended that:
From this recommendation, a formal Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment Initiative was formed between the United Nations University's Institute of Advanced Studies and a number of non-United Nations partners; with an indigenous led steering committee coordinated by a secretariat housed within the Association for Nature and Sustainable Development (ANDES), Peru; and an objective:
) to discuss Climate Change
The United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies provided significant and substantive assistance preparing background papers for this Summit, with the logistics of this Summit, plus with rapporteuring for this Summit, one of the outcomes of which was an 'Anchorage Declaration' of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. "Indigenous person" means native, original, first people and aboriginal. There are more than 370 million indigenous...
, where it was noted:
" .. cultures that support TKIndigenous intellectual propertyIndigenous intellectual property is an umbrella legal term used in national and international forums to identify indigenous peoples' special rights to claim all that their indigenous groups know now, have known, or will know....
[Traditional Knowledge] around the world are often living in marginal ecosystems, such as the Arctic, mountains, deserts and small islands ..[which are] .. often the sources of key ecosystem servicesEcosystem servicesHumankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services and include products like clean drinking water and processes such as the decomposition of wastes...
.... most vulnerable to climate change"
At the Seventh Session of the Permanent Forum, held from 21 April to 2 May 2008, it was recommended that:
" ..the United Nations University – Institute of Advanced Studies, university research centres and relevant United Nations agencies conduct further studies on the impacts of climate change and climate change responses on indigenous peoples who are living in highly fragile ecosystems".
From this recommendation, a formal Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment Initiative was formed between the United Nations University's Institute of Advanced Studies and a number of non-United Nations partners; with an indigenous led steering committee coordinated by a secretariat housed within the Association for Nature and Sustainable Development (ANDES), Peru; and an objective:
"To empower indigenous peoples to develop and use indigenous frameworks to assess the impact of climate change on their communities and ecosystems and to develop and implement strategies for building indigenous resilience and adaptive strategies to mitigate impacts while enhancing biocultural diversity for food sovereignty and self determined development or “Buen Vivir.”"
Global Summit
On the 20–24 April 2009, members of the Indigenous Peoples' Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative assisted arrange a Global Summit of Indigenous Peoples held in Anchorage (AlaskaAlaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
) to discuss Climate Change
"The purpose of the Summit was to enable indigenous peoples from all regions of the globe to exchange their knowledge and experience in adapting to the impacts of climate change, and to develop key messages and recommendations to be articulated to the world at the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009"
The United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies provided significant and substantive assistance preparing background papers for this Summit, with the logistics of this Summit, plus with rapporteuring for this Summit, one of the outcomes of which was an 'Anchorage Declaration' of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change
Further reading
- IUCN (April 2008) "Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and Climate Change: Summary Version" On-Line PaperAccessed 5 December 2009
- Dounias, Edmond (2009) "The sentinel key role of indigenous peoples in the assessment of climate change effects on tropical forests" Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions, On-line paper Accessed 6 December 2009
- Mclean, Kirsty Galloway McLean (2009) Advance Guard: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, Mitigation and Indigenous Peoples - a compendium of case studies (Advance Reading Copy), United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies Traditional Knowledge Initiative Accessed 6 December 2009
See also
- United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous IssuesUnited Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous IssuesThe United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. "Indigenous person" means native, original, first people and aboriginal. There are more than 370 million indigenous...
- United Nations UniversityUnited Nations UniversityThe United Nations University is an academic arm of the United Nations established in 1973, which serves purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The UNU undertakes research into the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of...
- Global warmingGlobal warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
- Effects of global warmingEffects of global warmingThis article is about the effects of global warming and climate change. The effects, or impacts, of climate change may be physical, ecological, social or economic. Evidence of observed climate change includes the instrumental temperature record, rising sea levels, and decreased snow cover in the...
- Indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
- Traditional Ecological KnowledgeTraditional Ecological Knowledge"Traditional Ecological Knowledge" is an academic term referring to aboriginal, indigenous, or other forms of traditional knowledges regarding local environmental resources. TEK can be defined as "a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down...
External links
- Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment Initiative WebsiteAccessed 5 December 2009
- United Nations University Traditional Knowledge Initiative's "Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment" WebsiteAccessed 5 December 2009
- United Nations University's 'Our World 2' Indigenous voices on climate change filmsAccessed 5 December 2009