7/28/2019 TWN Update No. 28: SBSTA: Language on drivers puts indigenous livelihoods at risk

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SBSTA: Language on drivers putsindigenous livelihoods at risk

London, 19 June (Kate Dooley) Concerns wereexpressed by several developing countriesincluding Bolivia, Tuvalu, the Philippines andalso by Indigenous Peoples over a draft decisiontext on addressing the drivers of deforestation

and forest degradation which implicatedindigenous peoples livelihoods with the driversof deforestation.

These concerns were expressed at a contactgroup set up under the Subsidiary Body onScientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) onthe issue of methodological guidance foractivities relating to reducing emissions fromdeforestation and forest degradation and the roleof conservation, sustainable management offorests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks

in developing countries (REDD+), as well asduring the final SBSTA plenary on 14 June. Thecontact group met several times during the Bonnsession (3 14 June) and one of the issues it wastasked to address relates to addressing the driversof deforestation.

The text which raised concerns reads as follows:Noting that livelihoods may be dependent onactivities related to drivers of deforestation andforest degradation and that addressing these

drivers may have an economic cost andimplications for domestic resources.

At the final contact group meeting on June 13,Bolivia made an intervention related to this textin the draft decision. Bolivia noted that it wantedto echo the concerns of Indigenous Peoples withregards to the paragraph in the preamble andexpressed concern that this paragraph equallyimplicates indigenous peoples along with largeand small industry. It said that indigenouspeoples are engaged in the sustainable

management of forest, which is related to thelinkages between the conservation of forests and

traditional livelihoods, but these traditional usesare not the same as the drivers to deforestation.

Chair Peter Graham (Canada) responded thatthe text had been intended to convey the ideathat if certain drivers were addressed, than the

livelihoods of local communities and indigenouspeoples may be indirectly gaining value fromthese activities. He said the intention was not toimply that indigenous peoples are the drivers butthat they may be gaining value from activitiesthat may drive deforestation, and in suchsituations, national strategies need to bedeveloped with consideration of the impact onindigenous peoples and local communities.

The Chair than welcomed observers to the open

contact group, recalling the mandate of thiscontact group, as expressed in decision 1/CP.16Appendix II (work programme on REDD+);decision 12/CP.17 (guidance on systems forproviding information on how safeguards areaddressed and respected and modalities relatingto forest reference emission levels and forestreference levels as referred to in decision1/CP.16), and decision 1/CP.18 paragraphs 38,39 and 40 (matters relating to support forimplementation of REDD+ activities, the

consideration of how non-market-basedapproaches, such as joint mitigation andadaptation approaches for the integral andsustainable management of forests, could bedeveloped and the initiation of work onmethodological issues related to non-carbonbenefits resulting from the implementation ofREDD+ activities).

The Chair noted that since the last contactgroup, Parties had engaged in a number ofinformals and many hours of drafting, and that

the conclusion text had now been accepted andwould be forwarded to the SBSTA plenary. Henoted that the conclusion text contained two

7/28/2019 TWN Update No. 28: SBSTA: Language on drivers puts indigenous livelihoods at risk

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annexes with possible draft decisions onmeasuring, reporting and verification (MRV) offorest-related emissions and reference levels. Henoted that these annexes reflect a range of viewsand finalizing these will occupy all the timeavailable to this contact group in Warsaw. TheChair noted that significant progress had been

made on the verification issue since Doha, andcommended the flexibility which had beenshown by all Parties in accepting the annex asbasis for negotiations in Warsaw. The Chair saidit was not going to be an easy negotiation, butParties have identified a clear path forward thatthey could not find in Doha.

The Chair also noted that excellent use had beenmade of the time here in Bonn, and agreementhad been reached on 3 draft decisions to go from

SBSTA to COP 19 viz.: national forestmonitoring systems; timing and frequency forreporting on the safeguard information systemsand addressing the drivers of deforestation anddegradation. The Chair congratulated Parties onthe spirit of compromise which had resulted inthese 3 agreed decisions, noting that these couldbe the first 3 COP decisions in Warsaw, and thatprogress had been made on non market-basedapproaches and non carbon benefits, with aprocess for further work in 2014 set out.

The Chair stated that if there were no objections,these draft conclusions would be forwarded tothe SBSTA plenary, and opened the floor forinterventions.

The United States, China, Colombia, Brazil,the Philippines, Australia, the EuropeanUnion, Ghana, Japan and Indonesia allthanked fellow Parties for their constructive

work and the Secretariat for their good guidance

Thailand said they look forward to work on the

non-carbon benefits and Papua New Guineaand Panama noted the need to finalise

governance and finance decisions so theREDD+ mechanism is ready.

Norway expressed concern with regard tochanges made on reporting for the safeguardsinformation system, and the links to resultsbased finance, and noted a need to revisit this in

Warsaw.In the SBSTA plenary on June 14, duringdiscussion of this agenda item, Tuvalusupported by the Philippines, raised concernsover the ambiguous language related tolivelihoods and the drivers of deforestation,stating that this should not be interpreted aslinking indigenous peoples to the drivers ofdeforestation. On the contrary, it noted thatindigenous peoples may be the victims ofdeforestation and forest degradation. Tuvalu

requested this ambiguity be revisited andresolved at COP 19, and that its interventionshould be recorded in the report of the session.

The statement from the InternationalIndigenous Forum on Climate Changeexpressed deep concern regarding the referenceto livelihoods in relation to the driver ofdeforestation, noting that livelihoods inherentlyencompasses the ways of life of indigenouscommunities, thereby implying that traditional

livelihoods may be dependent on activitiesrelated to the drivers of deforestation and forestdegradation. He noted that, as countless ofindigenous communities have demonstratedaround the world, traditional livelihoods are notrelated to the drivers of deforestation, ratherindigenous peoples traditional forestconservation and management practices havecontributed both to adaptation and mitigation ofclimate change. Traditional livelihoods thereforeneed to be acknowledged as part of the solution,

not part of the problem.