Uplifting Indigenous Climate Leadership
High-Level Climate Champions
H.E. Ms. Razan Al Mubarak and Ms. Nigar Arpadarai are the High-Level Climate Champions for #COP28 and #COP29.
Welcome to the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions newsletter. In this edition, we preview the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII); a vital? platform to empower Indigenous communities around the world, taking place this week in New York, United States.
The UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP 28, Her Excellency, Razan Al Mubarak has been a vocal supporter of Indigenous Peoples and their myriad contributions to tackling the climate crisis — from advocacy to environmental stewardship. To mark the event, Al Mubarak recorded a video address calling on multilateral funds and funders to support direct access to finance for Indigenous Peoples. The COP 28 Champion has also just announced the tendering of a new Global Data Study to establish a solid evidence base to showcase the significant contributions of Indigenous Peoples in the critical realm of climate action.
The 23rd Session of the UNPFII focuses on the theme of ‘Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Self-determination in the Context of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Emphasizing the Voices of Indigenous Youth’. To understand this agenda from the? perspective of Indigenous communities, we asked human rights and environmental lawyer, Nonette Royo, about the vast potential to boost Indigenous Peoples’ role as key partners to deliver on countries’ climate, nature and biodiversity commitments.
The newsletter also brings updates from the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial, attended by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP 29, Nigar Arpadarai. Plus, we bring you a unique perspective on the UK net zero transition, from Chris Skidmore, the former Energy and Clean Growth Minister who signed the country’s commitment into law.?
Read on to learn how the increasing inclusion of Indigenous Peoples opens the door to a new paradigm for climate action and adaptation on a global scale.
Returning to the wisdom of our ancestors?
Guest Q&A: Nonette Royo, Executive Director, Tenure Facility
Indigenous Peoples and local communities live on and manage more than half of the world’s land, yet they only have legal ownership of 10% of these territories. Robust Indigenous and local land rights are vital for managing forests, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preserving biodiversity, and improving livelihoods.?
Nonette Royo has spent more than 30 years fighting for the tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples communities in the world’s tropical forests, in regions ranging from Latin America to Southeast Asia and Africa. As Executive Director of Tenure Facility, Nonette has helped to map, and protect some 18 million hectares of land – an area equivalent to the size of Cambodia - which is expected to double this year. We spoke to Nonette about how a clear commitment to inclusion underpins her work to strengthen the tenure of Indigenous Peoples Communities and boost their ability to preserve and protect traditional lands and resources.
How does Tenure Facility support Indigenous Communities to protect nature?
The Tenure Facility offers grants and technical assistance directly to Indigenous Peoples and local communities, who are self-determined and work collectively, in their efforts to secure tenure, with a particular focus on mitigating climate change, reducing conflict and promoting gender equality.
How can Indigenous knowledge help us to solve the climate crisis?
From the perspective of Indigenous Peoples, the climate crisis is not just a heating crisis - it's a crisis of lifestyle. Humankind’s relationship with nature is in crisis due to a loss of respect for, and connection to nature. The longevity of Indigenous Peoples stretches back thousands of years as they live by the central principle of “only take what you need, and leave the rest for future generations.”
Indigenous knowledge can help us to return to the wisdom of our ancestors to survive and overcome the climate crisis. Everyone - whether white, black or whatever colour - has the inherent ability to coexist with nature. But somehow we have put ourselves in a place that is so safe and sanitised - with everything bought from stores - that we have created the illusion of separation from nature. In reality, everything that we consume and use is from the natural world, and our disconnection from our source places puts humankind into existential danger.
The existence of Indigenous Peoples is inextricably linked to nature itself - if nature fails, their communities fail, and vice versa. We can relearn the value of this connection from Indigenous Peoples - it’s not just about science, it’s about being part of nature, to protect the conditions for our mutual survival.
Why is direct funding of Indigenous Communities essential?
Direct funding of Indigenous Communities is essential, firstly as it acknowledges that communities that have lived within forests for many generations are acutely aware of the challenges they face and are best placed to implement solutions. Living in partnership with nature can be precarious, but over time communities have learned to survive and thrive by supporting nature. Few external parties have that lived experience, so it makes the most sense for Indigenous Communities to lead on projects and to allocate funds.
Now externally-driven problems, such as climate change and deforestation threaten the natural ecosystems that communities depend on, causing issues such as food insecurity, wildfires and droughts. Communities need funds to protect themselves and their territories, but traditionally, only a tiny amount of climate and development funding trickles down to them. This is due to an entrenched mistrust of Indigenous Peoples and misplaced doubts in their ability to handle money. Our experience and data completely debunks these myths. Indigenous Peoples can indeed allocate funds, and conduct effective reporting, for example, using technologies, such as smartphones for data collection and reporting, or aerial drones for surveying lands or GPS devices for mapping.
From providing direct finance to communities, we're seeing that the metrics of accountability, effectiveness and efficiency are all met. Now is the time to break down those bureaucratic barriers to fully empower Indigenous Communities to lead.
What does inclusion look like for Tenure Facility?
In the context of Tenure Facility’s work to expand the sustainable management and protection of their forests and lands, real ‘inclusion’ means providing open access to all information at the right time, which promotes full understanding and engagement.
To promote their self governance it’s important to ensure that the leaders of Indigenous Peoples Communities are represented fully, plus an understanding of the processes which underpin the election of those leaders is also key. Tribal leaders have a vision for how the community exists with nature which lives in their processes and protocols that are passed down, reinforcing their cultural identity and social cohesion within the community.
Click here for the full interview with Nonette Royo.
Copenhagen Climate Ministerial: A milestone on the road to COP 29
The UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP 29, Nigar Arpadarai attended the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial and highlighted that momentum behind the clean energy transition is driving both global climate action and real economy impact.?
The COP 29 Champion reflected that tangible advances in the energy transition, such as the USD 1.7 trillion investment in clean energy in 2023, can now be translated into bold ambition in the next national climate action plans – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – which are being shaped of COP 30.
“When it comes to combating climate change, neither governments nor non-government entities can do it alone,” Arpadarai said. “We need bold climate action from all sectors of society, each of which can push the other forward towards a more prosperous, resilient, zero-carbon economy. It’s been inspiring to hear of bold leadership from countries large and small as we build towards COP29 in Azerbaijan – a platform where all will have an equal voice.”
The Copenhagen Ministerial was a key moment for environmental ministers to build on previous climate talks and pave the way for the next generation of national climate transition and resilience plans, which would provide the confidence needed for finance to flow to zero-carbon, climate-resilient, and nature-positive development pathways.
Find out more about the key areas of focus for the Champions Team, including recent progress towards a Just Transition Away from fossil fuels, policy incentives to increase finance flows and the next generation of national climate transition and resilience plans.
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Learning the lessons of the UK’s net zero transition
Guest Q&A, Chris Skidmore OBE
As a former UK energy minister, Chris Skidmore OBE signed into law the country’s commitment to curtail emissions to net zero by 2050. Chris went on to lead an independent Net Zero Review, Mission Zero, which set out the ‘historic opportunity’ offered by net zero. The Review travelled to all four nations of the UK, received over 1,800 responses to the Call for Evidence, and held more than 50 roundtables, making it one of the largest national engagement exercises on net zero. It described net zero as the “economic opportunity of the 21st century”, highlighting that the supply of goods and services to enable the global net zero transition could be worth GBP 1tn to UK businesses by 2030.
We spoke to Chris about advocating for net zero inside the Government - and the need for key stakeholders, from business, to investors and cities - to engage with governments as they prepare the new phase of climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
How have you supported the global net zero transition?
Nearly five years ago when I was the UK's Energy and Clean Growth Minister, I had an opportunity to sign into law the UK's commitment to curtail emissions to net zero by 2050. The UK was the first G7 country to make that legislative commitment, so it was a landmark? moment. Back then, no one really expected that over the following five years, 92% of global GDP would be represented by a net zero target of some form, as it is today. To understand how the UK could best meet its climate commitments, the then Prime Minister commissioned an independent Net Zero review, which turned into the 340 page Mission Zero report, that sets out the ‘whole of society’ opportunity offered by the transition.??
Ever since then, I've been working to research and articulate the benefits and opportunities of net zero - not just as a means to reduce emissions, which is critical - but also to highlight the economic opportunity offered by the transition, in terms of growth, jobs and regeneration.?
Why is it important for governments to see and hear from the climate community during this NDC countdown phase?
I found it incredibly important as a UK Minister to know that - as a Government - we weren’t just ‘going it alone’ on net zero. If organizations with a large manufacturing and employee base were able to demonstrate their plans to increase productivity and jobs through the transition that really helped to assure bold policymaking to support them. As a politician, you can't measure the outcomes of policy just on the metric of carbon dioxide reductions, as not all stakeholders fully grasp those benefits yet. What they do notice, however, is when major companies clearly and impactfully signal their trajectory, like when Jaguar Land Rover announced its intention to build a ￡4 billion gigafactory for electric vehicle batteries in the UK.
Operationalising net zero is all about coalition building, it’s about demonstrating strength in numbers and showing the path to the future. Businesses now recognize the investment opportunities and - on the flip-side, the risk of standing still, which leads to stranded assets, stranded jobs and stranded businesses.?
We're living through a revolutionary time. The more people can get out there and explain that net zero equates to growth - and that change should not be feared, but embraced - the faster we can accelerate the transition, and the more value will be generated.?
Too many companies are participating in ‘green hushing’ - quietly implementing their climate commitments, but behind closed doors. That's a huge mistake. By providing evidence of their commitment and action, companies can fuel engagement with stakeholders - from suppliers, to investors and employees. A major upside is that entire ecosystems can advance towards net zero, while transparent engagement also makes supply chain relationships less transactional, deepening partnerships across sectors.?
This is an historic, once-in-a-generation moment, like the introduction of electricity - where new ways of thinking are going to advance productivity, efficiency and opportunities for prosperity. I want that to happen in the UK and all over the world.
Click here for the full interview with Chris Skidmore.
Race to Resilience Update
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Solution stories of the month:?
Race to Zero Update
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