Dear Relatives,
As we enter the second week of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) Dubai, we want to uplift some of the IEN’s delegation’s efforts to lift the concerns of Indigenous Peoples to influence negotiations at the largest ever climate summit with our network. IEN has participated in every UNFCCC COP since COP4, and this year we brought our largest delegation to date.
According to news reports, COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, also the head of the United Arab Emirates state-owned oil company, announced in a letter to parties, dated July 2023, COP28 would focus on four areas including fast-tracking energy transition and slashing carbon emissions before 2030; transforming climate finance; putting nature, people, lives and livelihoods at the center of climate action; and mobilizing for the most inclusive COP ever.
But, with an influx of some 2,400 fossil fuels lobbyists and 475 carbon capture lobbyists to this COP, presided over by the head of a petro-state and oil executive, and decades of little to no real action to mitigate the effects of climate chaos already being experienced by Indigenous Peoples, doubts run high that any of the above stated goals will occur.
Add to that scenario a new report by the Global Carbon Project cited in the Energy Mix Newsletter of the Climate News Network projecting that “fossil fuel emissions—including oil, gas, coal, and cement—will rise again this year by 1.1% to a record 36.8 billion tonnes, accounting for 90% of carbon pollution from human activities,” and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announcement that 2023 will be the hottest year ever recorded, and many people are tempted to resign themselves to an emotional state of hopelessness.
As if all that were not enough negativity to cause the strongest believers in human will and ingenuity to solve the direst of social issues to accept defeat, COP28 president Al Jaber on Nov. 21, 2023, ranted that abandoning fossil fuels (which should be at the heart of COP28 talks) risks putting us “back into caves.” He also falsely claimed that there is “no science” to support a total phaseout of fossil fuels, to meet global temperature goals that are centered in the summit’s negotiations. Al Jaber’s remarks were first reported by The Guardian, which posted a video of the discussion between Al Jaber and former president of Ireland and UN special climate envoy Mary Robinson.
But, despite the summit being overcast with doubt and even “mired in controversy and confusion”, according to a Dec. 5, 2023 CNN op-ed after Al Jaber’s rant, Indigenous groups like IEN are participating as fully as possible, co-hosting forums, webinars, and joining allied NGOs’ forums to have their voices heard. To Indigenous Peoples, Mother Earth is a living being that sustains us and all of life. Indigenous Peoples are charged with responsibility for her protection, thereby protecting all of life, including all of humanity. Our relationship to the natural world and our reliance on our ecosystems leaves Indigenous communities disproportionately affected by the consequences of Climate Change.
The Indigenous Peoples Caucus, or the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) had but two minutes during the COP28 opening plenary to share their opening statement, which outlined their core concerns and assert their “inherent, distinct, internationally recognized rights” to influence the negotiations. Some key points in the IIPFCC statement include,
“This includes the development of a strong Article 6 grievance mechanism, loss, and damage strategies that prioritize prevention, just transition that respects our rights and knowledge, and the creation of finance and funding mechanisms that are designed by and directly accessible to Indigenous Peoples from all regions.
Carbon markets and offsets, geo-engineering, mal-adaptation technologies, “Net Zero” frameworks and “Nature-based solutions” do not cut emissions and instead create new forms of colonization, militarization, criminalization, and land loss. We call for a moratorium on such activities that violate our rights.”
At this year's COP, the IIPFCC calls for the creation of a mechanism for presenting grievances when carbon trading and offset schemes might impact the rights and lands of Indigenous peoples, strategies that prioritize the prevention of catastrophic loss and damage from Climate Change, direct access to funds when damage occurs, the equitable phaseout of fossil fuels and a Just Transition that respects Indigenous Rights and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge. IEN is an active member and participates in several working groups of the IIPFCC that was officially established as an organized constituency at the UN in 1977.
The IEN delegation has also been active in the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) throught the Facilitative Working Group. Two esteemed members of our delegation, Faith Gemmill and Mary Lyons have attended and presented a number of interventions as Traditional Knowledge holders.
Further, IEN youth delegates and IEN Ring of Fire cohort members Jack Collard (Nyoongar Nation) and Sterling Peterson (Sməlqmix, Siksika, Syilx), and Elvis Ferreira Oliveira Rakaxinawa (Huni Kui Indigenous Peoples, Amazon) have been active in the Indigenous Youth Caucus and LCIPP, alongside of the Traditional Knowledge Holders
On the first day of the climate summit, IEN hosted a press conference, IEN Executive Director Tom BK Goldtooth said,
 IEN also has been active at the summit educating about false solutions to climate mitigation, such as carbon markets, which assign a market value to carbon isolated in forests, peat bogs as a way to reduce emissions by issuing credits for sale. The notion to buy and sell or trade pollution as a commodity is absurd to our Indigenous worldviews and Original Instructions. The notion of bringing air and the elements of air into a market system is an affront to Natural Law that Indigenous Peoples have a responsibility to uphold, Goldtooth explained.
b has participated in a number of events, actions, and meetings with States and other stakeholders. Below are a few of our highlights from COP28 so far.
- Nov.30, 2023, IEN delegates Brenna Two Bears, Julia Bernal and Eriel Deranger in the press conference, “Defending The Sacred: Indigenous Peoples Against False Solutions and Article 6.” A UNFCC COP28 Webcast. https://www.ienearth.org/defending-the-sacred-indigenous-peoples-against-false-solutions-and-article-6/
- Dec. 1, 2023 IEN Keep It In The Ground Organizer Brenna Two Bears presented on a “Power Redistributed” panel discussion of what local to global solidarity means when fighting fossil fuels and on Saturday, Dec. 2, IEN hosted a panel called, “False Solutions vs Real Solutions to the Climate Crisis: Indigenous Water Protectors Defending Their Livelihoods, Lands and Territories.” Programs Director Kandi White facilitated the discussion with IEN’s Tom Goldtooth, Shyrlene Oliveira da Silva of the HuniKui Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon, and Jack Collard of the International Engagement Organisation, Jayce Chiblow of Indigenous Climate Action. https://www.ienearth.org/defending-the-sacred-indigenous-peoples-against-false-solutions-and-article-6/
- Dec. 4, 2023, IEN Carbon Pricing Educator Thomas Joseph Tewenaldi presented at “Beyond the Green Façade: Unmasking the True Costs of Hydropower – Insights from River Protectors.”
- Dec. 6, 2023, Arctic Side Event, “Article 6 on the Ground: Real Solutions Instead of Dangerous Distractions,” featuring IEN’s Climate Geoengineering Organizer, Panganga Pungowiyi and Climate Justice Program Coordinator Tamra Gilbertson. https://www.ienearth.org/cop-28/
Be sure to check back at our website for updated information on upcoming events, reports, video replay, and transcripts for webcasts, and more insight and reports from our delegation members.
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