UN: "Indigenous peoples, we have achieved a lot in this process, but there is much work to do"

Victoria Tauli Corpuz, Executive Director of the Tebtebba Foundation. Photo: JA / Servindi

Servindi, December 14, 2010 - "I think we have achieved a lot in this process, and we must continue to work and do many things to make sure everything is implemented correctly," said Victoria Tauli Corpuz, former Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

"We were successful in referencing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in two parts of the text of the Long-Term Cooperative Action," according to the Philippine indigenous woman with respect to the agreements reached at the Climate Change Conference held in Cancun.

The text on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD Plus) "contains many references to indigenous peoples, rights, knowledge and participation," as per the Executive Director of the Tebtebba Foundation.

"We were not able to achieve our goal of obtaining a clear commitment from the States for a Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol, nor were we able to convince Annex 1 countries of the Convention to make legally-binding commitments."

"Nevertheless, the Kyoto Protocol was not killed, which was the goal of some countries." In this regard, "there is much more work to be done before Durban," according to Tauli Corpuz, who formed part of the official delegation of the Philippine government.

"Now, there is a decision to establish a Green Fund on Climate Change, an Adaptation Committee and a Technology Committee, among other decisions that will be implemented.”

"The indigenous representatives here in Cancun have worked very hard as members of the Conference and, in the case of a few, as part of nine or ten official government delegations," she concluded.