UNDRIP Report - English FINAL - International Forum on Globalization

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whole undertaking like that.” Resistance and crisis create these opportunities that we have in the present, Kruse believes. Kruse proceeded to read a quote from Bill Clinton from the week of October 20, 2008. “We all blew it, including me, when we treated food crops like color TVs, instead of [treating them as] a vibrant commodity for the world’s poor.” Kruse exclaimed, “We cannot be outflanked by Bill Clinton. We need to think at least as big as Bill Clinton is thinking.” Finally, Kruse added that it is of the utmost importance that indigenous peoples get to know and read <strong>UNDRIP</strong>. A lot of the power of <strong>UNDRIP</strong> as a tool lies in how well the indigenous peoples know the Declaration. Juan Carlos Jintiach of the Amazon Alliance explained that when he was talking to some leaders of Peru, he told them how his community won control over their territory through a constitutional injunction. This victory is a good example to other communities as to how to use <strong>UNDRIP</strong>, he believes. Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network mentioned that he could tell that grassroots organizing is really growing in the Americas. The role of NGOs, Goldtooth believes, should be to support what indigenous peoples speak up for, like treaties that they develop for their communities. There needs to be more support for the movement towards using <strong>UNDRIP</strong> as a tool in the Western Hemisphere, Tom concluded. UN DRIP A ND TH E C O NVENTI O N O N BI OL OGI CAL DIV E RSI TY The UN Convention on Biological Diversity stands out as a strategic space in the international architecture where indigenous peoples have fought for and won the right to participate in global policy decision-making. How can <strong>UNDRIP</strong> be used as the CBD advances? What are the lessons learned for indigenous participation in the UNFCCC, and other for whose decisions impact cultural and biological diversity? Victoria Tauli-Corpuz – Tebtebba Foundation Chief Kokoi (Tony James), Amerindian Peoples Association of Guyana Victoria Tauli-Corpuz of the Tebtebba Foundation summarized that the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of the institutions that has provided a space for indigenous peoples’ participation, within which the <strong>International</strong> Indigenous <strong>Forum</strong> on Biological Diversity (IIFBD) was created. She claimed that the IIFBD has had a key role in influencing many aspects of the CBD. Tauli-Corpuz told the group that in the 2008 CBD Conference of Parties 9, which happened in Bonn, indigenous peoples participated and this was key because it was the first year after the Declaration had passed. Indigenous peoples really took part in making sure that the Declaration becomes a framework for the many dimensions of the CBD, she noted. Tauli-Corpuz explained that the IIFBD has divided itself into many working groups: Agriculture Biodiversity, Forest Biodiversity, the Protected Areas Program, etc. She described how indigenous peoples spread themselves out among the different groups in order to really get the Declaration applied in different areas. Unfortunately, Canada was strongly opposed to using <strong>UNDRIP</strong> as a framework, Tauli-Corpuz explained. Therefore, in every session Canada had its “best diplomats” in that convention. Sometimes Canada’s strong opposition and appearance within these working groups undermines the progress that indigenous peoples have been making on implementing <strong>UNDRIP</strong>, said Tauli-Corpuz. She stressed that this is why it is important for indigenous peoples to be present at every convention, so they can have their voices heard. Tauli-Corpuz concluded that in the end, the only thing relating to <strong>UNDRIP</strong> that came out of the CBD within the working groups was that the adoption of the Declaration on 13 September 2007 was noted. This is not what they wanted, she stated, but they said, “Never mind, as long as the UN Declaration is stated there.” They would have liked for it to state that <strong>UNDRIP</strong> was to be a framework for the 27
implementation of the different programs under the CBD, but because of Canada, there was no mention of this, Tauli-Corpuz explained. However, she conceded that the CBD still has a lot of provisions that refer to the indigenous communities. Tauli-Corpuz predicted that the next issue for indigenous peoples to address would be Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), which determined how outsiders can access biological resources in indigenous territories in exchange for some benefits, if those resources are eventually commercialized. The next arena in which to address this issue will be the CBD meeting in Japan in 2010. According to Tauli- Corpuz, they are negotiating an international regime on ABS for biological resources. She added that it has been agreed that indigenous peoples’ participation should be facilitated and that funds to help indigenous peoples participate in the negotiations should be available. Tauli-Corpuz pointed out, “Of course, access and benefit sharing on biological resources relates to trade, intellectual property rights, subsistence rights, and all the different issues under the Declaration that will come into play when the whole regime is going to be negotiated.” Tauli-Corpuz concluded, “[Indigenous peoples] are actively looking into the issue of indicators on the implementation of the CBD programs and to monitor the success of the programs. One of the indicators that they have already agreed upon is the vitality of indigenous languages. They agree that if the indigenous languages are vibrant then the biodiversity and cultural diversity is also vibrant. The other issue is the traditional occupations of indigenous peoples. The <strong>International</strong> Labor Organization (ILO) is helping with this through their Convention 111—a convention on discrimination against traditional occupations. The ILO is doing a study on where the traditional occupations are vibrant and how are they being supported by the Convention and other international agreements. Traditional languages, occupations, and knowledge are the key areas under negotiation…Hopefully, everyone’s concerns can be heard when the regime on Access of Benefit Sharing is also going to be negotiated.” She also noted that the IUCN finally endorsed <strong>UNDRIP</strong> at their 2008 World Conservation Congress in Barcelona. She said that this would affect conservation work. Also, she announced, “There is going to be an open-ended expert working group on climate change and biodiversity, which will be held in the UK, November 17 to19, 2008.” The result of conferences on REDD and indigenous peoples in the Philippines will feed into this workshop because they are “also now very much involved in influencing the debates in the climate change convention, especially as far as the impacts on biodiversity are concerned.” Finally, Tebtebba prioritizes the national implementation of the CBD by holding trainings in Africa, Asia, and also Latin America on how to implement it at the national level. One of the things that they found out was that governments often have national bio-safety programs, but they hardly implement them in indigenous peoples’ territories, Tauli-Corpuz explained. “Tebtebba is pushing for pilot projects on how to apply the ecosystem approach for the implementation of the national biological diversity programs.” She explained that they are making progress with this because it is really pushing the governments at the ground level and equipping indigenous peoples to demand from the governments that they comply with agreements signed at the international level. At the end of the day, national-level implementation is the most visible area of CBD implementation by indigenous peoples, Tauli-Corpuz concluded. Chief Kokoi, aka Tony James, of the Amerindian Peoples Association of Guyana told a story about a company that was trying to persuade indigenous peoples that they would benefit from one of their projects. The representative from the company tried to explain how they would benefit by drawing a confusing diagram with many boxes and arrows and then at the bottom of the diagram were boxes that represented the benefits to the indigenous peoples. The benefits were actually less than one percent. Chief Kokoi stated that indigenous peoples now have the tool necessary to make progress. He stated, “We are the hammer and we now have the chisel of <strong>UNDRIP</strong>. It’s up to us to continue to chisel away, and to keep the chisel sharp.” He conceded that it is a lot of work and sometimes the Conventions can be a confusing arena for indigenous peoples. Chief Kokoi explained that regional differences are often barriers to the comprehensive understanding of a situation. He gave the example, “Sometimes in the Amazon, we do not understand what is happening in Africa or Asia.” He suggested that to improve the 28
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Page 5 and 6: INT ROD UCT IO N Victor Menotti of
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Page 11 and 12: Discussion Trevor Stevenson of the
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Page 39 and 40: Secondly, Ole Simel made the point
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Page 59 and 60: Discussion Athena Ballesteros of th
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LIST OF PA RTICI PA N TS Brazil Ms.
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United States Mr. David Gordon Paci
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UNI TED NA TI ON S DE CL AR A TI ON
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Recognizing that the situation of i
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histories and aspirations which sha
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2. Unless otherwise freely agreed u
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Article 42! The United Nations, its
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