"We are going to be monitoring so that the State complies with the climate agreements"

Servindi, 28 august, 2020. Edwin Montenegro Dávila, national leader of the AInter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Jungle (Aidesep), assured that they will be vigilant in the implementation of the climate agreements reached during the last consultation process.

“We are going to be monitoring so that the State complies with the climate agreements and carries out the necessary actions; so that the State respects the agreements that are in the minutes because they directly benefit the communities,” said Montenegro, in communication with Servindi.

The leader - who resumed his work after overcoming COVID-19 - refers to the agreements reached within the framework of the Regulation of the Framework Law on Climate Change (RLMCC), published on December 31, after a prior consultation process.

“The State always makes agreements, but it does not comply. The change of authorities hinders us and we cannot move forward. The obligation of the State is to train us so that we can make our decisions, and that this work does not remain stagnant.”,  Montenegro stated.

One of the ongoing processes is the establishment of the Plataforma de los Pueblos Indígenas para enfrentar el Cambio Climático – PPICC (Platform of Indigenous Peoples to face Climate Change), which will be announced through a ministerial resolution of the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM).

During his speech before the Congress of the Republic, where he requested the vote of confidence, Prime Minister Walter Martos indicated that the platform would be established in the third quarter of the year. He said, "(...) in the period that remains for the current government administration, Peru will develop an Indigenous Climate Platform, to be established in the third quarter of the year."

Likewise, it announced the update of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in order to go from a 30% to 35% greenhouse gases (GHG) reduction by 2030.

This goal of the State was deemed as insufficient by Aidesep, which in 2018 presented the Minga NDC, an initiative that includes eleven indigenous climate action strategies to contribute with mitigation, adaptation and resilience actions to face climate change.

In addition, the indigenous organizations made this proposal during the consultation process, and stated that climate ambition should be improved and the GHG reduction goal increased from 30 to 50 percent.

However, the Regulation did not include the indigenous proposal to increase Peru's climate ambition.

The leader of the Awajún people also recalled that the participation of indigenous peoples in the High Level Commission on Climate Change or the Indigenous Climate Fund was another indigenous proposal that was not included in the RLMCC.

In environmental matters, the Prime Minister also announced the preparation of "the Carbon Neutrality Technical Proposal and the National Adaptation Plan, the two basic pillars for the construction of the National Strategy for Climate Change by 2050".

Climate Platform Establishment

According to the RLMCC, the Indigenous Climate Platform "is a space that allows the articulation of indigenous or native peoples with the competent authorities in matters of climate change."

Likewise, it indicates the platform is a space for indigenous peoples "to manage, articulate, exchange, systematize, disseminate and monitor their proposals for adaptation and mitigation measures. A space for their traditional and ancestral knowledge, practices and knowledge on climate change that contribute to the comprehensive management of the situation."

For this establishment, a Promotion Group was created in December 2019, which was in charge of designing configuration and operation of the platform.

In accordance with the advances of the Promotion Group, the PPICC will be chaired by the MINAM. In addition, two representatives from each of the seven national indigenous organizations - taking into account gender parity and an intergenerational approach - and representatives from the Ministry of Culture will integrate it.

The organizations that will make up the PPICC are Aidesep, the National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Women of Peru (Onamiap), the National Agrarian Confederation (CNA) and the Confederation of Amazonian Nationalities of Peru (CONAP).

The National Federation of Peasant, Indigenous, Native and Salaried Women of Peru (Fenmucarinap) and the Union of Aymara Communities (UNCA) will also integrate the platform.

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