Press release of the Sevettijärvi meeting 25-30 September 2011
Indigenous peoples' worldviews, experiences and observations on climate change constitute the basis for solutions for the climate crisis
Climate change mitigation and their local and regional adaptation strategies were discussed in the meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Biocultural Climate Change Assessment (IPPCA) in Sevettijärvi on the 25-30 of September, 2011. The participants represented Central, South and North America, the Arctic Region and Central and Eastern Asia. The event was hosted by the Skolt Sámi.
The emerging results of the biocultural assessments underscore the increasing burden that climate change places on indigenous people and other local communities. The very same communities that have been struggling for centuries with the suppression of their cultural, spiritual and land rights, are now faced with rapid changes in their local environments. The increasing pressures have led to changes in traditional calendars as well as in the livelihood strategies of these communities. These communities possess detailed knowledge on their own environments and draw from a tradition, which values respect over greed, and can therefore lead by example in the seek for solutions to the climate crisis.
The biocultural assessments were conducted using intercultural methodologies that bridge traditional knowledge and science. Changing climatic conditions were analyzed as part of the complex and interrelated set of issues that affect the rights, livelihoods and cultures of indigenous peoples, traditional societies and local communities.
The intercultural assessments need to be mainstreamed into the work of international and national organs and to all relevant climate change processes.
◦ We request that the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues establish a Traditional Knowledge and Practice body involving indigenous leader, educational institutions, experts and scholars to advise its work and that of other UN processes.
◦ We call upon national governments to provide full support to indigenous peoples' own assessments and to invest in education and research institutes that empower indigenous voices in climate change.
◦ We urge the IPCC to include independent chapter in the future Assessment Reports on indigenous knowledge. This should be guided by indigenous peoples.
Resource persons for interviews:
Alejandro Argumedo, Coordinator, Indigenous Peoples Biocultural Climate Change Assessment (IPCCA) initiative and Director of Asociacion ANDES, Cusco, Peru
Representatives from IPCCA Local Assessments in China, Ecuador, Finland, India, North America, Panama, Peru and Thailand
