Indigenous peoples, Forests, Climate Change and reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation

Transcription

1 Indigenous peoples, Forests, Climate Change and reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation Vicky Tauli-Corpuz Exec.Director- Tebtebba Chair, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Tebtebba Indigenous Peoples International Centre for Policy Research and Education

2 International concept Outline: 1. Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples 2. REDD: history and current state of negotiations. 3. Forests and Climate Change 4. REDD: risks and opportunities 5. Ways forward

3 International concept 1.Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples Greenhouse gases (GHG) absorb sun's energy, reflect back some of this to space and emit some to earth. (greenhouse effect) Greenhouse gases water vapour, ozone, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydroflourocarbons, perflourocarbons, sulfur hexafouride.

4 International concept Human-induced or anthropogenic emissions, esp. CO2, increased since industrial era (early 1800s). CO2 emissions caused by combustion of fossil fuels oil, gas, coal (used for energy production, transportation, industrial processes) account for 66% of GHG Other sources of GHG: agriculture (14 %), deforestation (17%), waste management (3%).

5 International concept Increased concentration of GHG cause global warming which affects earth's climate (climate change) - rainfall patterns, ocean levels and currents, speed of wind, seasonal cycles, drought, floods,storms. International Responses to Climate Change UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC): 1992

6 International concept Provides that countries collect information and produce reports on their GHG emissions and efforts to reduce these. International cooperation for CC research. Annex 1 countries (rich countries) provide technical know-how and financial resources to poorer countries to help them cope with CC. Kyoto Protocol subsidiary agreement of UNFCCC. Concluded Dec. 1997,

7 International concept Kyoto Protocol entered into force in establishes legally binding emissions targets for Annex 1 countries from Clean Development Mechanism Joint Implementation Emissions trading Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice. Subsidiary Body for Implementation

8 International concept After Bali new bodies were set up. Ad-Hoc Working Group for Long-Term Cooperative Action. (AWG-LCA) Negotiates mitigation, adaptation, finance,technology transfer, long-term vision. Ad-Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments of Annex 1 Countries (AWG-KP)

9 3. What is REDD? Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries Measure to provide positive incentives to developing countries to slow down their rates of deforestation and forest degradation to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (mitigation).

10 December Coalition of Rainforest Nations (led by Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea) presented formal proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emission from deforestation to 11 th Conference of Parties (COP) of UNFCCC and first Meeting of Parties(MOP) of Kyoto Protocol NGOs led by Environmental Defense Fund reiterated inclusion of forests under Kyoto Protocol's trading instruments

11 COP 11 requested SBSTA to evaluate issue of avoided deforestation and report back to UNFCCC COP 13/MOP3 (Dec. 2007, Bali) Two international meetings on avoided deforestation held in July 2006/March Brazil, opposed to linking RED schemes to carbon trading presented its avoided deforestation proposal based on public funds

12 SBSTA workshop -Sept.2006 and at COP 12 in Nov Stern Report (2006) review commissioned by UK 20 % of current annual GHG emissions is due to land use change mostly deforestation in developing countries. -suggests avoided deforestation measure be included in post-2012 commitment period under Kyoto Protocol

13 -Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is central to global/national mitigation measures. -Need to pilot avoided deforestation schemes to test methodologies and iron out technical and social difficulties Key issues discussed under UNFCCC Causes of deforestation (drivers)

14 Policy tools for REDD including bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Ways to provide incentives for REDD, including financial mechanisms (incentivising) Market based or fundbased mechanisms Technical issues associated with measuring REDD and implementing policies for REDD

15 Current state of negotiations COP 13 (2007) Bali Action Plan and decision on REDD Parties agreed to consider policies and incentives for REDD and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, enhancement of carbon stocks in developing countries (UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2007/L.7/Rev.1) Decision 2/CP.13: Parties recognized that the needs of local and indigenous

16 - Communities should be addressed when action is taken to address REDD. Climate Change Talks in Bangkok (April 2008), Bonn (June 2008) and Accra (August 2008) dealt with REDD. Submissions on REDD of Parties to the Secretariat before Accra: European Union: Stakeholders involvement, including involvement of local communities and indigenous peoples

17 and assessment of the effects on biodiversity are essential for any approach to be effective. Accra Talks: the AWG-LCA held a Workshop on Policy Approaches and Positive Incentives on issues relating to REDD and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks in developing countries.

18 Issues which are discussed under REDD: - Fund-based or market-based mechanisms to fund REDD. - Drivers of deforestation. - baseline data - permanence and leakage - scale: project or national scale - opportunity costs if opportunity costs for deforestation are bigger then there will be more incentives to deforest, REDD will fail - rights of indigenous peoples

19 Submissions on REDD for Poznan (Dec. 2008, COP9) Norway submission included the need to involve indigenous peoples in REDD processes at local and global level. Rainforest Foundation (Norway) indigenous peoples' rights as contained in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should be part of REDD agreements.

20 3. Forests,CC and IPs Forests and forest based livelihoods are directly affected by climate change Vulnerable to warming climate, increased variability, increased incidence and severity of extreme weather events. Higher temperatures and prolonged droughts lead to more forest fires.

21 Maintenance of forest-based ecosystem services that support other economic sectors can strengthen resilience to climate change. Moderating quantity and quality of water from watersheds (hydrological services) used for drinking, agriculture, etc. Role of intact natural forest vegetation in controlling fires and landslides.

22 Forests are already affected by rapid development of agrofuels/biofuels Driven by subsidies from EU, USA, Brazil, etc. Intact tropical forests converted to agrofuel plantations (oil palm, soya, sugar cane, etc.) Extent to which climate policy includes agrofuels as an emissions mitigation strategy impacts on forests and rights of indigenous peoples/forest dwellers.

23 Deforestation and forest degradation are a significant source of GHG emission and are among those that can be mitigated at relatively low financial cost. IPCC estimates that about half of potentially avoided emissions at $100/ton of CO2 equivalent could be achieved by reducing emissions from deforestation Mitigation potentials of forests also affected by climate change (warmer/drier climate leads to more forest fires)

24 Forests and IPs Forest governance and human rights: persistence of conflicting claims over ownership, governance, control, use and access. Cause of armed conflicts and legal suits: used extensively for patronage politics by govt. officials/bureaucrats No satisfactory experiences and arrangements reached yet on governance of

25 Forest destruction driven by commercial scale economic activity that enjoy implicit or explicit State subsidies. Wood processing industries Indonesia, Malaysia,etc. Commercial scale agri-business (monoculture tree and agriculture plantations, cattle-ranching,etc. Forest based goods and services central to economic, social and cultural rights of indigenous peoples.

26 Despite importance of forests to ESC rights, indigenous peoples and forest dwellers denied access to forests. Rich history of repressive measures taken by State and non-state actors to control forest access and use. Myriad challenges of forests to social justice and equity.

27 Funds alloted for REDD: World Bank FCPF: $300 million FCPF Donors: Australia,Finland,France, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland,UK,US Outside of FCPF: Norway: $600 M each year for next 6 years. Australia: A$200 M funding Indonesia/Papua New Guinea

28 3.2. Risks of REDD Governance Risks Highly centralized top-down management of forests: Exclusion of IPs from decision-making Violations of land and resource rights of indigenous peoples, particularly forest rights Judicial and physical conflicts related to contested claims over forests. (Indonesia -510 local conflicts over forests) Historical and present lack of legitimacy, equity, justice in land-use planning

29 and benefit-sharing schemes Perverse incentives Funds for REDD fall into hands of deforesters (loggers/national governments,etc.) while forest conservers are not rewarded. Industrialized countries (Annex 1 countries) which have highest emissions continue business-as-usual as long as they pay poor countries to do REDD.

30 Carbon trading as main means to fund REDD: Reliance on private sector and carbon market to provide funding for REDD. Driven more by speculation. (increase of voluntary markets) Lack of scientific proof that offsets (e.g. those carried out through CDM and voluntary markets, REDD,etc.) can really reduce GHG emissions. Linking REDD mainly to carbon trading,

31 diverts us from serious consideration of non-market mechanisms Required purchase of proportion of each developed country's emission target (rather than free allocation) with revenue to be used for REDD. Establishment of a fund mechanism linked to UNFCCC to finance REDD and REDDrelated activities. Simple commitments by developing countries to reduce their emissions across entire forestry sector with credits

32 for each tonne of avoided CO2. Focus on domestic capacity (technical skills and institutions) needed to implement REDD.

33 3.3. Opportunities: Use renewed focus on forests to call for legal reforms which recognize indigenous peoples' rights as contained in UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Strengthen implementation of UNDRIP and national laws on IP rights. Possibilities of preventing deforestation can be increased. Benefits for indigenous peoples if the REDD architecture is designed with indigenous peoples.

34 Opportunities: Strengthens possibilities for indigenous peoples to have a foot in the UNFCCC negotiations. Proposal for a Working group on local adaptation and mitigation measures of indigenous peoples. Proposal for an Indigenous Peoples' Climate Change Fund Establish International Monitoring Body on REDD

35 4. Ways Forward - Recommendations from UNPFII and other IP groups that the UNFCCC establishes a Working Group on local adaptation and mitigation measures of indigenous peoples. Special report on local adaptation and mitigation measures and a roadmap for indigenous peoples and climate change.

36 Asia Summit on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change (February 2009) Research on adverse impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples and their adaptation and mitigation measures. Global Summit on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change (April 2009, Alaska) Develop a REDD architecture using human-rights based and ecosystem approach.

37 International Expert Workshop on the Implementation of the UNDRIP (Jan.14-16,2009) International Expert Workshop on Indigenous Peoples, Extractive Industries and Corporate Accountability. Use of UNDRIP as an overarching framework for climate change measures as these relate to indigenous peoples.