Introduction

Climate finance and the commitments around it are important topics when discussing the current environmental crisis. Climate finance often generates a series of discussions and questions that can sometimes seem endless, complicated, and non-transparent. In the global financial architecture, there are specialized financing mechanisms. One such financial mechanism is the Green Climate Fund (GCF)[1].

The Green Climate Fund held its first Board meeting (B.01) in August 2012 and approved its first funding proposal three years later in November 2015, during the 11th Board meeting (B.11). This first funding proposal has a significant importance for Indigenous Peoples, as it established action in the Datem area of Peru, in Indigenous Peoples' territories and above all raised a series of questions related to the respect and recognition of the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples and especially the importance of conducting processes that integrate free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in all climate actions to be carried out on indigenous lands and territories, as well as the importance of follow-up and monitoring of the Fund's actions.

This first GCF project set the tone for recognizing the importance of monitoring climate finance from the position of Indigenous Peoples as there is a lack of data that can tell us how many climate action projects are implemented on Indigenous lands and territories –more importantly, how these climate actions will impact Indigenous Peoples and how data obtained from climate finance monitoring are  integrated into the said actions.

In February 2018, the GCF approved the Indigenous Peoples Policy during its 19th Board Meeting. This policy was the response to the constant concerns of Indigenous Peoples to avoid any negative impacts on activities that are financed by the Fund and that supports the rights of Indigenous Peoples and defines compensation for any unavoidable harm that Indigenous Peoples might suffer. Another objective of the policy was to ensure that Peoples are fully and effectively involved in consultations at all levels when developing Indigenous Peoples' policies, projects and programs, allowing them to benefit from GCF activities and projects in a "culturally appropriate manner"[2].

There are many important elements to know if these actions are having a "do-good" rather than a "do-no-harm" effect, and that is why monitoring the actions of the Green Climate Fund, but especially the actions taking place on our lands and territories as Indigenous Peoples, is so important. 

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[1] Green Climate Fund (GCF), which was defined during COP 16 in Cancun, the parties established the GCF as the operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention. And developing countries committed to mobilize US$100 billion from 2020 onwards.

[2] An Indigenous Peoples toolkit on the green climate fund indigenous peoples´ policy (2020) Tebtebba Foundation ver en: https://www.tebtebba.org/index.php/component/fileman/?view=file&routed=1&name=IP%20Toolkit%20on%20GCF%20and%20the%20IP%20Policy%20%28English%29.pdf&container=fileman-attachments

A total of 578 indigenous leaders including indigenous women and youth from Nicaragua, Nepal, and the Philippines completed the training program on Indigenous peoples’ sustainable and self-determined development. With most of its activities implemented during the first half of 2021, the training supports the continuing learning of second-generation indigenous leaders.

In Nepal, the Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Research and Development (CIPRED) implemented virtual and in-person training on policy advocacy last June and July 2021. Particularly, participants including indigenous youth and women from Nepal’s Lamjung district were oriented on the promotion and recognition of indigenous peoples’ customary practices, traditional knowledge and skills for the sustainable management of resources and community development.

Photo: CIPRED

In addition, the training provided an opportunity for the youth to learn various customary practices from their elders. The youths also appreciated the importance of social media in culture and values information dissemination and awareness-raising.

In the Philippines, Silingang Dapit sa Sidlakang Mindanao (SILDAP-SE) conducted orientation-trainings, community workshops, and focused group discussions in six communities of indigenous peoples in the provinces of Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte. It is notable that most of the participants realized during the orientations that there is a need for more work to be done in relation to their self-governance and to the challenges besetting their culture such as the vanishing of their language, among others.

Photo: SILDAP-SE

Michael Guna, a Mansaka from Davao de Oro and an indigenous peoples’ mandatory representative to the local government, posited that the management of their ancestral domain and the utilization of its resources must be governed by indigenous peoples themselves and not by migrants. He expressed a desire to initiate the formulation of a local ordinance that would ensure the sustainability of their indigenous knowledge and practices. 

In Nicaragua, the Centro para la Autonomía y Desarollo de los Pueblos Indigénas (CADPI) held community workshops for the Miskitus and Mayangnas of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. Discussions revolved around global issues affecting them including the impacts of climate change in their communities.

Photo: CADPI

“Mainly, we identify the different challenges facing each of the communities and, among them, find the common challenges, the different challenges per community,” expressed Larry Salomón, a community facilitator, during the training.

He stressed that one of the issues faced by the indigenous peoples in the Sauna As Territory is the conflict with settlers from Honduras who are illegally possessing community properties. In addition to that is the destruction and deterioration of their environment.

Echoing the sentiments of other participants from the three countries in terms of the trainings conducted in their communities, Gustavo Sebastian Lino, President of GTI Sauna As, said that the said training is essential because they get to see the reality that indigenous peoples confront not only within their community but also in other parts of the world. He stressed that the training opened spaces of knowledge that indigenous peoples have around the world which can, then, help the participants create better strategies and design change paradigms to better govern their communal property. “So that we can have security, protection, and defense,” he explained.

CIPRED, CADPI and SILDAP which are part of Elatia, a global partnership of indigenous peoples on climate change, forests, and sustainable development, also localized the IPSSDD Training Course guide being used by the Elatia Indigenous Peoples Training Institute, further allowing learners to appreciate its contents and relate it to their corresponding, specific situations.

Affected by the COVID-19 restrictions, the activities in the said countries were implemented with the support of Tamalpais Trust Fund through Tebtebba’s continuous project, Realizing indigenous peoples’ sustainable, self-determined development (IPSSDD) through training of next generation indigenous leaders, including women and youth.

(From reports of CIPRED, CADPI and SILDAP-SE and interview excerpts from the video, Chuklla, produced by CADPI.)

Introduction

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) in 2018 approved its Indigenous Peoples Policy[1]. This policy is intended to assist the GCF in incorporating Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) considerations into decision-making processes as they work to achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives[2]. 

The Indigenous Peoples policy of the Fund established the definition of structures that are essential for the incorporation of issues identified as relevant by Indigenous Peoples. One of these structures is the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Group (IPAG), which was established to:

“(a) to provide advice to the indigenous peoples focal point, national designated authorities, and accredited entities and executing entities on GCF-financed activities affecting indigenous peoples; (b) to review the implementation and monitoring of this Policy, particularly on the appropriate modality to enhance dialogue among indigenous peoples, GCF, states, accredited entities and executing entities, and other experts; and (c) provide guidance and advice to the Board as may be requested”[3].

It is understood by Indigenous Peoples that the IPAG is the platform to more efficiently incorporate the rights-based approach that Indigenous Peoples expect in climate finance actions that may affect their lands and territories. 

The Indigenous Peoples Advisory Group to the Green Climate Fund (IPAG)

After a considerable time of waiting, the GCF issued the public call for regional nominations for the IPAG in November 2021. The definition of the representatives constituting the IPAG was made through the self-selection of Indigenous Peoples through the large regional networks.  The IPAG will be constituted by 4 representatives of Indigenous Peoples, and their respective alternates from the regions of the Global South: Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Pacific. 

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[1]   The Indigenous Peoples policy decision can be found in documentation B.19/11.

[2]   See the Indigenous Peoples Policy of the Green Climate Fund. B.19/11 at: https://www.greenclimate.fund/document/indigenous-peoples-policy

[3] Indigenous People Policy. B.19/11. Párrafo 81.

“The struggle is not about to end. These struggles are intergenerational.”

Stanley Kimaren ole Riamit, Executive Director of Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners (ILEPA) in Narok, Kenya, elaborated on the significance of the training of second-generation indigenous leaders during the recent opening session of the third segment of the virtual training on policy advocacy on 31 August 2021.

Endorsed by the different partners and members of Elatia, Nia Tero and the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development (IPMG-SDG), about 40 young indigenous leaders are participating in the virtual training on policy advocacy that focuses on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The training particularly aims to provide basic information about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, its background, and its links to indigenous peoples’ rights and aspirations, as well as the opportunities and challenges it provides.

The training also hopes to offer practical guidance on how indigenous peoples can engage in sustainable development processes in order to assert their right to self-determined development and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development for all. In addition, the training will provide participants with an overview of the Indigenous Navigator (IN) as a monitoring tool for the implementation of the indigenous peoples’ rights in the SDGs. The participants will also be taught necessary skills in policy advocacy work on the SDGs.

The initiative’s pool of trainers includes indigenous leaders and experts who are actively engaging in various processes on the SDGS with the IPMG-SDG, namely Joan Carling, Eileen Mairena Cunningham, Robie Halip and some guest trainers.

Culminating three months after, on November, the training is jointly implemented by the ILEPA and the Elatia Indigenous Peoples Training Institute with support from Tebtebba, Nia Tero, and Bread for the World.