COP26: direct financing for indigenous peoples?

By: Isabel López, Amazon program of DAR

Climate change exists. And its impacts are not myths or smoke screens, but problems that mainly affect indigenous peoples who, according to the World Bank, occupy up to 22% of the earth’s surface.

Indigenous territories contain 80% of the biodiversity that still remains on the planet, and that today is in danger due to the imposition of extractive activities; which, in the name of “development”, cause the destruction and degradation of forests, generating almost 20% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In such a context, it is relevant to talk about the commitments made during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), in Glasgow. Specifically, the announcement made by the Governments of Scotland, the United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, the United States and the Netherlands, in collaboration with 17 donors, to support indigenous communities and local populations with $ 1.7 billion, globally , which protect forests. Faced with this, the question is what are the implications of this financing.

In the first place, it is important to highlight that this donation represents a significant advance for indigenous peoples on the issue of climate financing, inasmuch as it is a response to the demands of organizations so that climate actions respond to their needs as collective subjects that have ancestrally occupied and protected more than 80% of the planet’s biodiversity.

The fund seeks to support the implementation of forest tenure rights for indigenous peoples and local communities. However, it is important to mention that beyond land tenure, the peoples demand the comprehensive and collective titling of their territories. This, because the expansion of extractive activities in indigenous territories is carried out, on many occasions, without respecting the rights to participation, consultation and consent of the peoples.

In this context, it must aim to guarantee the legal security of indigenous territories; that is, titling, georeferencing, expansion and indigenous governance. In this way, the communities, which are on the front line of the fight against climate change, will be able to better face the illicit appropriation of natural resources (minerals, oil, wood) that deforest a large part of the Amazon.

Second, it is important to note that, although the donation was announced, the criteria to determine the implications that determine the indigenous organizations and local communities that will receive said donation have not yet been established. To date, the mechanisms that will be used so that the funds reach the communities directly are unknown, or is it that it will continue to be done through the usual mechanisms? If so, then we would not be talking about direct financing, since the funds would be promoted through national governments, multilateral institutions, non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies or consultants.

According to a study by the Rainforest Foundation, indigenous communities and organizations receive less than 1% of climate finance aimed at reducing deforestation. Therefore, the challenge is to establish the mechanisms so that the funds are decentralized to the national government level and arrive locally without the need for intermediaries. And there, another question arises: What are the criteria to establish which organizations and communities are going to be supported and which are not? Which continents are going to be prioritized?

If what is sought is direct financing for and with local peoples and communities, the negotiation processes for its implementation must be carried out with them. This implies not only forums to present proposals to them, but also to build mechanisms in an articulated way and consider that there are already solutions based on nature and from the communities that indigenous peoples carry out to face the climate crisis.

As Telma Taurepag, Coordinator of the Union of Indigenous Women of the Brazilian Amazon – UMIAB, said in a parallel event to COP26: “Our indigenous organizations are promoting the care of Mother Earth. So you need to help those who take care of life around the world. And we need this union to continue our work to protect the planet ”.

[Publirreportaje]