United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)
Topic A: Reducing the Vulnerability to Climate Change to Maintain Resilience Towards Sustainability
The close relationship between the indigenous people and the environment has made them one of the first groups to be directly affected by climate change. The World Bank has acknowledged climate change’s effect on the indigenous group’s economic, cultural, and social well-being that depends on nature’s resources. In fact, this has caused climate change to multiply the stress placed on such communities. Despite contributing the least to climate change, indigenous groups are the most vulnerable to its negative effects. For example, groups living in high altitude regions of the Himalayas are facing losses in the water supply. The melting rate of glaciers and snow has increased, which leads to a boost in their short-term water supply but reduces the long-run supply. Most climate displacement occurs within the country’s borders, as the World Bank predicted 143 million people to be internally displaced in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America by 2050. There is progress in building flexibility against extreme weather changes. For example, villagers in Bangladesh creating floating vegetable farms in precaution of floods. In order to maintain such progress, tackling the obstacles indigenous groups face is necessary. Delegates are tasked to come up with solutions that focus on social protection, environmental degradation, recognizing rights, and collaborating with such groups for a safer future.
Topic B: Discussing the Effect of Land Invasions on Indigenous Communities
“Our land and resources are our life, not mere commodities”. - Permanent Forum Chair Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine
The murder of the indigenous leader Emrya Wajãpi in Amapá, Brazil has become a symbol for encroachment on Indigenous land. Despite the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, inclusive of land rights, protected communities remain under the threat of land invasions. Indigenous people use their lands and territories as a sense of identity. The collective rights of indigenous people are not recognized in many countries despite obtaining legal protection. In fact, many have recognized the effect of advancing collective rights to land to climate change and protecting the planet’s biodiversity. The Republic of the Congo became the first African country to adopt a specific law that protects the rights of indigenous peoples, which preserved pre-existing land tenures. Land invasions have a detrimental effect on the identity of such groups. As their lands are taken, indigenous groups experience an erasure of cultures, loss of traditions, change in religion and a loss of languages. Delegates must maintain regional and international frameworks to ensure set provisions will protect indigenous peoples’ rights to their lands.