WATCH | Indigenous Peoples Statement at Opening Plenary COP28

The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) Caucus delivered a bold statement at the conference’s opening plenary on the opening day of COP28, November 30th, 2023.  Pema Wangmo Lama Mugum, an Indigenous youth activist belonging to the Mugum Indigenous Community from Nepal, was selected by the IIPFCC to deliver the statement to the COP28 Presidency:

“We greet you in a good way, Tashi Delek and Chyag! We congratulate all for the operationalization and pledges for the Loss and Damage Fund.

We demand a meaningful process including direct access to the fund for Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples are facing increasing disasters in our homelands as States fail in their commitment to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In 2023, this global cap was exceeded, threatening our ways of life in Asia and around the world.

Our inherent, distinct, internationally-recognized rights are affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will not allow these rights to be diminished, undermined, combined, or confused in any way. We have the right to full and direct participation, including for our youth, women, and knowledge holders, in all UNFCCC processes. This includes the development of a strong Article 6 grievance mechanism, loss and damage strategies that prioritize prevention, just transition that respects our rights and knowledge, and the creation of finance and funding mechanisms that are designed by and directly accessible to Indigenous Peoples from all regions.

Carbon markets and offsets, geo-engineering, mal-adaptation technologies, “Net Zero” frameworks and “Nature-based solutions” do not cut emissions and instead create new forms of colonization, militarization, criminalization and land loss. We call for a moratorium on such activities that violate our rights.

Real solutions require drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions based on the equitable phase out of fossil fuels. States have committed to respect and promote the rights of Indigenous Peoples in climate action.

The Global Stock Take must consider all elements of the Paris Agreement. We commit to work with States to implement real solutions based on our knowledge, practices, time-tested sciences, reciprocity with the natural world and Mother Earth, and the full exercise of our rights.

Our collective survival is at stake and our children and future generations require action without delay.

Thank you.”