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Servindi, April 30th, 2014.- The Unity Pact of Peruvian Indigenous Peoples Organizations observes a biased approach and the omission of key issues in the domestic agenda on climate change developed by the Peruvian government.
The official national agenda is reduced to five items: a) oceans; b) forests; c) glaciers, mountains and water security, d) renewable energy; and e) sustainable cities.
For the Unity Pact the proposed thematic scheme ignores fundamental issues related to climate change in the region such as healthy territories, sustainable ecosystems, agriculture and food sovereignty, among others.
The proposed approach ignores many critical factors that increase the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to climate change as open-pit mining in headwaters, depletion and pollution of water sources and desertification, among others.
Such factors cause serious socio-environmental conflicts like the Conga mining project, the threat of the Cañariaco project to the communal territory of the Cañaris people or the oil contamination of the Pastaza, Tigre, Corrientes and Marañon river basins.
Antolín Huáscar, coordinator of the Unity Pact, said that the absence of agricultural and food sovereignty issues in the national agenda should be amended. "That is what we will say in the next meeting 'Indigenous Organizations and Climate Change: Peru heading towards COP20'.
The event will be held on May 6th at the offices of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Lima, and is organized by the Public Front team (Frente Público), one of the five groups established by the Peruvian State for the UNFCCC Twentieth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20).
"The Andean peoples already are one of the most affected by climate change due to the reduction of glaciers, the increase of natural disasters, stronger pests and degradation of ecosystems, that are altering the traditional cycles of agricultural production," said Huascar.
Gladis Vila Pihue, spokeswoman of the Unity Pact, said that the Peruvian State must agreed upon agenda proposals with civil society and the indigenous peoples in particular.
"Peasant families provide 70% of the food production for Peruvian households and indigenous peoples are already suffering the negative effects of climate change," Vila said.
"The Peruvian Government should not impose an agenda behind the back of indigenous peoples, excluding their vision and particularly those of indigenous women," she added.
The May 6 meeting aims to establish an information network to promote dialogue with indigenous peoples and define participation mechanisms to channel the proposals of indigenous peoples and other civil society organizations in the framework of the COP20.
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The Unity PactThe Unity Pact is a strategic articulation of national indigenous organizations whose purpose is to strengthen the national indigenous movement and build joint proposals leading towards the exercise of self-determination, Buen Vivir and Full Life of the peoples and communities of Peru. The generic name of indigenous or native peoples, groups various ways of organization expressed as: peasant and indigenous communities, rondas campesinas, agrarian federations and associations, among others, that recognize and identify themselves as indigenous. It consists of the following organizations*:
The Unity Pact and COP 20
--- (*) The participation of the National Confederation of Peruvian Communities Affected by Mining (CONACAMI) was suspended until their internal difficulties of legitimacy and representation are autonomously resolved. The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) decided to formally renounce to the Unity Pact as stated in a letter dated January 20, 2014. However, the letter added that this decision does not mean it will discontinue "coordinating actions that depend on the unity of the national indigenous movement." |
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Translated from Spanish to IWGIA and Servindi by Luis Manuel Claps.