Uyukar Domingo Peas, an Ecuadorian Indigenous activist, says if there are still "reservoirs of natural resources" in the world, it is "because we have protected them for thousands of years."

Peas has been fighting against the destruction of forests for three decades and regrets that states and companies continue to destroy the Amazon despite the urgency of the climate crisis.

"The Amazon must remain intact for the youth and the rest of humanity," the 58-year-old from the Achuar nation told AFP, lamenting that governments and corporations have not sought the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous peoples to save the planet.

Peas was speaking at Environment Week, a series of independent events involving Indigenous peoples from around the world that is being held in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

An estimated 80 percent of the world's tropical forests -- about 800 million hectares -- are in Indigenous territories, according to organizations that defend them.

Many Indigenous people blame capitalism for the destruction of their forests.

"We want companies and banks to stop investing for money and invest for the common good" because "climate change harms every human being," he said.

He is calling for funds to implement the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative, which aims to protect 35 million hectares in the Amazon rainforest of Peru and Ecuador, and is home to 30 Indigenous communities with around 600,000 people.

He hopes that the nine countries that share the Amazon -- often referred to as the lungs of the planet, spread over nearly 300 million hectares with three million inhabitants from more than 500 peoples -- will also join this initiative.

- 'Bioeconomy' -

Peas advocates for a new "bioeconomy," with new sources of energy, tourism programs and other initiatives to ensure that Indigenous youth do not migrate away from their homelands.

"We want to take care of the jungle and live off the jungle," he said.

Compared to the large sums needed for the oil and mining projects that pollute their lands and rivers, Peas' initiative requires just $19 million over 10 years.

"Mother Earth does not expect us to save her, she expects us to respect her," said Nemonte Nenquimo, the Ecuadorian chief of the Waorani nation.

- 'Where does the money go?'-

The Covid pandemic and "the collective hysteria of oil-dependent countries" following the conflict in Ukraine have dealt a severe blow to the Indigenous climate struggle, said Levi Sucre, of the Bribri community, an Indigenous people living between Costa Rica and Panama.

With priorities set on economic recovery, Indigenous rights "have regressed alarmingly in the last two, three years," he told AFP.

He said that the most alarming case is that of Brazil, where the government "deliberately ignores the Indigenous peoples."

Indigenous peoples' representatives complain that the resources agreed upon at climate meetings barely ever reached them.

Monica Kristiani Ndoen, a young Indonesian Indigenous leader, said that "the challenge is to access climate funds directly."

"The question is where does the money go?"

For the Venezuelan Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, general coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), the problem is that "we are not present in the meetings where the decisions are taken."

"If you want us to continue to provide oxygen, rivers, forests, drinking water, respect our house," he said.

Australia climate change failings violated indigenous rights: UN committee
Geneva (AFP) Sept 25, 2022 - Australia violated the rights of indigenous people by failing to adequately protect them against the effects of climate change, a United Nations watchdog has ruled, ordering Canberra to pay compensation.

In a ground-breaking decision, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled in favour of indigenous Torres Islanders who had filed a complaint against Australia over its failure to adapt to climate change.

The Islanders had pointed to measures such as failure to upgrade seawalls on their islands or to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"Australia's failure to adequately protect indigenous Torres Islanders against adverse impacts of climate change violated their rights to enjoy their culture and be free from arbitrary interferences with their private life, family and home," the committee said in its decision issued on Friday.

Eight Australian nationals and six of their children -- all indigenous inhabitants of Boigu, Poruma, Warraber and Masig, four small, low-lying islands in Australia's Torres Strait region -- filed the complaint in 2019.

They claimed that changes in weather patterns had direct harmful consequences on their livelihood, culture and traditional way of life.

Severe flooding had destroyed family graves and left human remains scattered across their islands, they said.

They also argued that the changing climate, with heavy rainfall and storms, had degraded the land and trees, reducing the amount of food available from traditional fishing and farming.

- Islands could 'disappear' -

"Advancing seas are already threatening homes, as well as damaging burial grounds and sacred cultural sites," the claimants said when they filed their complaint.

"Many Islanders are worried that their islands could quite literally disappear in their lifetimes without urgent action."

The committee, whose 18 independent experts are tasked with monitoring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, found that Australia had violated two articles of the convention in the case.

Taking account of the islanders' close, spiritual connection with their traditional lands, it questioned "the delay in seawall construction" on their islands and ruled that Australia's failure to take timely and adequate measures to protect them had led to the violation of their rights.

The committee, whose opinions and recommendations are non-binding but carry reputational weight, called on Australia to "make full reparation to individuals whose Covenant rights have been violated."

The country, it said, should "provide adequate compensation (to the islanders) for the harm that they have suffered" and should also "engage in meaningful consultations... to conduct needs assessment".

It should also implement the measures needed to "secure the communities' continued safe existence on their respective islands", it said.

In the ruling, the committee listed a number of arguments by Australia, including that climate change was a global phenomenon attributable to the actions of many states and requires global action.

The decision could have implications for other countries as well.

"The Committee has created a pathway for individuals to assert claims where national systems have failed to take appropriate measures to protect those most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change on the enjoyment of their human rights," committee member Helene Tigroudja said in a statement.

"States that fail to protect individuals under their jurisdiction from the adverse effects of climate change may be violating their human rights under international law," she added.

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UN chief wants 'action' to address climate loss, damage payments
United Nations, United States (AFP) Sept 22, 2022
The United Nations chief said Wednesday it was time for "meaningful action" on the issue of compensation for damage wrought by the climate crisis, especially in developing countries. Ahead of the forthcoming COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi - the latter appearing by video link - co-hosted a meeting of world leaders for "frank exchanges" on climate action. "My messages were stark," Guterres told reporters at the UN ... read more