23 January, 2020

The Green Climate Fund Readiness and Indigenous Peoples

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Indigenous peoples are among those that are affected the most by climate change and at the same time those that have contributed and can actively contribute positive solutions to mitigation and adaptation. They have done so throughout the centuries, managing and ensuring the integrity of the ecosystems upon which their survival—physical and spiritual—strongly depends upon.
Indigenous Peoples are now considered as key actors in climate policies and programmes, and their active role and right to be consulted, engaged and informed—as well as compliance to the broader suite of indigenous peoples’ rights in accordance to international obligations and instruments—are recognized in various climate initiatives, from the UNFCCC to climate funds, such as the FCPF, the UNREDD, the CIFs and the Green Climate Fund. Furthermore, the recognition of the contribution of indigenous peoples and their traditional knowledge in adaptation and mitigation in the UNFCCC and more recently in the Paris Agreement offers a unique opportunity—in particular for the Green Climate Fund—to capture the potential of indigenous peoples’ engagement in
Fund’s activities at all level, from the local project level, to the national level, and globally.
Such a virtuous synergy would be enabled by the adoption of some key criteria and commitments at various levels, from the GCF to the country level. On the one hand, Indigenous Peoples and Civil Society Organizations working on the GCF, have repeatedly called on the GCF to adopt a coherent and free-standing policy on Indigenous Peoples1 that—among others—would spell out the key steps required to ensure that any GCF initiative will not harm indigenous peoples, thereby further multiplying their vulnerability, but also “do good” to them. On the other, IPOs and CSOS have urged the Fund to develop and adopt criteria to ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in national processes, in particular through the respective National Designated Authority (NDA) or Focal Point and the overall country ownership strategy and approach. And lastly to provide opportunities for indigenous peoples to directly access finance for projects designed by themselves on the basis of their traditional knowledge and livelihoods to ensure that the full spectrum of benefits, carbon and non-carbon are effectively produced.
Download briefing paper here.