STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

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EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionReport, the resilience of indigenous populations is being severely challengedwhen combined with demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle changes. 48The Arctic region is predicted to lose whole ecosystems, which will have implicationsfor the use, protection and management of wildlife, fisheries, and forests, affectingthe customary uses of culturally and economically important species and resources.Arctic indigenous communities—as well as First Nations communities in Canada 49 —are already experiencing a decline in traditional food sources, such as ringed sealand caribou, which are mainstays of their traditional diet. Some communities arebeing forced to relocate because the thawing permafrost is damaging the road andbuilding infrastructure. Throughout the region, travel is becoming dangerous andmore expensive as a consequence of thinning sea ice, unpredictable freezing andthawing of rivers and lakes, and the delay in opening winter roads (roads that can beused only when the land is frozen). 50Changes in animal populations have also had an impact, and some indigenouscommunities are observing new species moving into their territories (“climaterefugees”) as well as a decline in both the health and number of existing speciesthat are staple foods and also have traditional economic value. 51 The resourcesavailable to indigenous peoples to counter these threats are limited.In Africa, climate change projections indicate that some areas may becomedrier, whereas others may become wetter. Nomadic indigenous pastoralistcommunities in sub-Saharan and Eastern Africa, who live mainly in semiaridlands, have started experiencing frequent droughts that are destroyingvegetation and livestock. Climate change will also have significant implicationsin the use of the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of Africanindigenous communities. Thus, it is important that climate change adaptationand mitigation measures of change take into consideration the traditionalknowledge, innovations and practices of African indigenous communities. 52the Arctic region ispredicted to lose wholeecosystems, which willhave implications forthe use, protection andmanagement of wildlife,fisheries, and forests,affecting the customaryuses of culturally andeconomically importantspecies and resourcesIn the Pacific region, indigenous peoples live in sensitive zones where theeffects of climate change-induced rising sea levels and coast erosion are mostdevastating. The challenges faced are a loss of territories, forced migration fromlow-lying islands and relocation of these migrants to other indigenous peoples’traditional territories. Such relocations of indigenous “environmental refugee”communities are already taking place and are having, and will continue to have,a number of adverse social, spiritual, cultural and economic implications for theaffected communities. 5348IPCC (2007b), 63.49Working Group on Article 8J (2007e) .50IPCC (2007b).51Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (2007), 16.52Working Group on Article 8J (2007a), 39.53UNEP/CBD/WG8J/4/4 (2005).THE ENVIRONMENT | 97
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionClimate change impacts on a Pacific islandLateu is one of the northernmost islands of the Vanuatu archipelago thatis particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The increasingfrequency of spring tide events, tidal waves and cyclones, together withsea-level rise, has led to coastal erosion and created permanent floodingor standing pools of water. Over the past 20 years, the coastline has eroded50 metres. In August 2005, the residents living in Lateu were forced torelocate to higher ground 600 metres from the coast to a new settlementnamed Lirak.Source: Working Group on Article 8J (2007i) and SCBD (2006).International treaties, laws and declarationsrelated to environmental protectionOver the past decades, a growing international awareness of the degradation anddestruction of the global environment, the loss of biodiversity and the foreseenimpact of climate change has generated a plethora of international laws andmechanisms addressing environmental protection and related issues. 54the challenge forindigenous peoples is toassert their sovereignrights as peoples tonatural resources,decisions concerningresources, and the wayin which states engagewith themAt the same time, however, the current treaty-based framework of internationalenvironmental law is seen to be poorly equipped to accommodate indigenouspeoples as non-state players with rights equivalent to states within the area ofinternational environmental law. 55 International law is built on the Westphalianpremise of state sovereignty. This is reiterated throughout international treaties,such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, which reaffirms that “states havesovereign rights over their own biological resources”. On the international anddomestic stages, the challenge for indigenous peoples is to assert their sovereignrights as peoples to natural resources, decisions concerning resources, and theway in which states engage with them.Indigenous peoples are not only affected by these instruments, they have alsobeen able to play an important part both in the processes that have led up to theformulation of conference declarations and documents and to the establishmentof related mechanisms, as well as in the follow-up processes.54Regarding environmental protection, there exist almost 60 legally binding agreementsencompassing a wide variety of issue-areas, from nature conservation and terrestrial livingresources to atmospheric pollution, hazardous substances and nuclear safety.55L. Westra Environmental Justice and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: International andDomestic Legal Perspectives (2008) EarthscanPress, UK at p. 9 citing Metcalf (2004)98 | CHAPTER III
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STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

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