November 13, 2024
Re: Informal Consultation on the Reports of the WIM and Santiago Network
Dear Madame Chair,
Thank you again for letting me speak today to address the State Parties and other participants during the IC as a representative of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (AKA the Indigenous Peoples Caucus or the IPO Constituency). As you know the IIPFCC designated two of us to be the formal representatives of the IIPFCC on the Santiago Network Advisory Board. In that capacity, Gideon Sanago serve as the primary representative and I serve as the alternate, although both of us work closely as a team and I participate along with him in the SNAB meetings.
I have not seen the reports in question, and so I will not comment on the general content. However, as I expressed today, I want to respectfully clarify the position of the IIPCC regarding combining or conflating Indigenous Peoples who have distinct collective rights affirmed in International Standards, including the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, with other entities such as “vulnerable groups” or “local communities”. I have enclosed the consensus adopted position of the IIPFCC in this regard.
We greatly appreciate if conflations such as “Indigenous Peoples and local communities” or “Indigenous and local knowledge” can be avoided in the report. “Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge” of “Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples” can be used as well as “Indigenous Peoples” as stand-alone terms. If local communities (which are not a recognized or defined constituency at the UNFCCC and whose identities are unclear) are mentioned in the WIM and SN reports, please address them separately.
We are very grateful for your attention to this request as the collective position of the IIPFCC which represents over 150 Indigenous representatives from all 7 socio-cultural regions of the world at COP 29.
I look forward to seeing the next draft of the reports.
Respectfully,
Andrea Carmen
Executive Director, International Indian Treaty Council (IITC)
100 E. Ajo Way, Tucson Arizona, 85713
Tucson Office Phone +(520) 833-9797
Cell phone +(520) 273-6003