Taptuna joins voices in Paris
Climate change agreement may exclude indigenous rights
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Friday, December 11, 2015
PARIS
On Dec. 6 images from Paris streamed by media outlets across the Internet as indigenous people, reportedly from around the world, took the Seine River by paddle to protest the removal of indigenous rights from a final agreement of the Conference of the Parties for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21).
Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna, left, Inuit Circumpolar Council chairperson Okalik Eegeesiak and Greenland Finance, Mineral Resources and Foreign Affairs Minister Vittus Qujaukitsoq released a joint message to COP 21 nations in Paris on Dec. 8. - photo courtesy of Government of Nunavut
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The United States, the European Union, Australia and others have pushed for indigenous rights to be dropped from the binding parts of the agreement out of fear that it could create legal liabilities, according to one report.
Two days later, Premier Peter Taptuna teamed up with Greenland and the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) to send a message to the 195 nations attending the conference.
Taptuna and his counterparts, Greenland Finance, Mineral Resources and Foreign Affairs Minister Vittus Qujaukitsoq and ICC chairperson Okalik Eegeesiak, listed nine points they would like to see in an agreement coming out of COP21.
"A Paris agreement that recognizes and protects the rights of indigenous peoples and the values, interests, culture and traditions of the peoples of the Arctic" figured in the top three.
"We are here to deliver an urgent message on behalf of the people of the North. When it comes to climate change, Nunavut is one of the most vulnerable areas on Earth," stated Taptuna in a joint news release.
COP21, a two-week international climate change conference held Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, had as a goal to produce a "legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2 C," according to the conference website.
Other points included in the joint release are that a final agreement:
* ensures equal access to the right to development, also for the peoples of the Arctic,
* acknowledges the extremely high cost of living in the Arctic and does not impose further financial burden to Arctic regions,
* ensures that Inuit food security is protected,
* promotes the need for adaptation action in areas that are disproportionately affected by climate change, such as the Arctic, and for sustainable funding to support such initiatives,
* recognizes the importance of indigenous knowledge, its significant contribution to our understanding of climate change, and acknowledges its value being on par with scientific data.
The conference was scheduled to conclude Dec. 11.
