Inclusive Climate Change Solutions - Global Forest Leaders Forum

Inclusive Climate Change Solutions - Global Forest Leaders Forum

Kawan-kawan yang baik,
Berikut ini merupakan tulisan dari kawan kita, Abdon Nababan yang dijadwalkan untuk menyampaikan Keynote Speech pada sesi pleno Global Forest Leaders Forum di Preston Auditorium di Kantor Pusat Bank Dunia di Washington, DC, tanggal 17 September 2008, jam 09:15-09:30 waktu setempat. Forum ini diselenggarakan oleh Bank Dunia dan The Forest Dialogue bersama-sama dengan IUCN, WRI, WBCSD, PROFOR. Tulisan ini telah mendapatkan berbagai masukan dari kawan-kawan Masyarakat Adat dari Afrika, Amerika Latin dan juga dari Asia dalam prepatory meeting kemarin dan hari ini. Terimakasih untuk Ruwi, Mina dan Rukka yang telah membantu proses pembuatan naskah pidato ini. Tanpa keahlian kawan-kawan, naskah ini tidak akan ada.

Salam dari negerinya Mas Obama.
Abdon.

Global Forest Leaders Forum,
Preston Auditorium, World Bank, Washington, DC.,
17 September 2008

Keynote Speech:
Inclusive Climate Change Solutions

Mr. Abdon Nababan, Secretary General of Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago), Indonesia

Thank you, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
Over so many years we, Indigenous Peoples have seen our lives change. Recently, with climate change, we are seeing changes that we do not wish to ever happen.

I stand here before you to state this: We are more vulnerable now than ever. At any moment, we now face prolonged drought and intensifying desertification, increased frequency of extreme weather conditions, heavy rainfall and floods. There is no escape. Sea level rise will inundate most of our coastal areas and submerge small islands. Coral bleaches severely deplete our important marine ecosystems. We are seeing the shrinking of agricultural areas, reduction of fishery activities, and biodiversity loss. Food production significantly decreases too, and water becomes scarce. Competition over limited resources will increase.

This is climate change as I have seen with my own eyes a few days ago before I came here. I was in Bangko, Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia where 6 thousand people encroached on the buffer zone of the world heritage site Kerinci Seblat National Park, cleared out the forest and started to grow potato. Where just a week ago confused tigers entered the village and ate a goat. All these and why? Because both the peoples and the tiger do not understand why there is flood all of a sudden, and drought at the wrong time, and vast empty spaces where big forest used to be. Yes, this is the same Kerinci Seblat National Park where the World Bank used to have a big project, closed down only recently.

Ladies and gentlemen,
We are now in a defining moment; a moment when at stake is the very well-being of our earth, our economy is in turmoil and the lives of billions of people threatened. This is the climate change moment.

Are we ready and willing to do what it takes in this defining moment? To act and stop doing business the usual way? Climate change calls for everybody to change!

Today I stand before you to ask you this question. Are the World Bank, the Great Governments of the World, the United Nations, the Big Donors, Corporations, and citizens of the West, South, East, and North ready and willing to change?

I stand here this morning because we, Indigenous Peoples, have always had the courage to change, renew our ways of living, rejuvenate our civilizations, regrow our forests, refresh our institutions, and do our businesses differently, and in the end maintain the ecological balance of the earth, by stewarding our forests and seas. This, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, is the fundamental nature of the indigenous peoples of the world.

Climate change is not all of your making. But the failure of the growth institutions to change is greatest challenge of humankind.

Allow me to say something specific about REDD, from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples, expecially those of us living in Indonesia.

As we all know, Indonesia is one of the major greenhouse gas emitters, largely due to logging and forest conversion. Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) estimates that Indonesia has experienced deforestation of approximately 59 million ha within the last 40 years. The deforestation rate for the period of 1989 – 2003 alone was 1.99 million ha annually. Such high rate corresponds to 74% of CO2 emissions in the country, followed by energy consumption (23%) and industrial activities (3%).

In the context of REDD, much focus has been placed on avoiding deforestation in Aceh and Papua. Meanwhile, the ongoing disasters are occurring mostly in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Indonesia's carbon emissions come from forest fires, conversion of forest into other uses, unsustainable industrial logging, and other destructive activities that affect forests.

If Indonesia wants to significantly contribute to reducing emissions for the world, it needs to address the more difficult challenge of rehabilitating and restoring forests in heavily deforested Kalimantan and Sumatra, and prevent forest fires. And, unless overall policy and practices are changed, this will also mean that the government needs to drop the huge palm oil and industrial timber plantation expansion plan.

At the core of deforestation in Indonesia, lies the problem of non-recognition of rights of Indigenous Peoples to lands, forests and resources, generating conflicts between Indigenous Peoples and local communities with forestry companies, mining companies, oil palm, industrial tree plantations and government institutions.

Forest Dialogues, such as these are needed in different countries to address these conflicts.

Upholding the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of local rights-holders - Indigenous Peoples and local communities, is another mechanism to promote equity and conflict avoidance and management.

Setting up carbon forests, national parks and protected areas, or developing legality standards for timber and timber trading, will be just dealing with the symptoms of deforestation. In contrast, addressing inequalities in land tenure, discrimination against Indigenous Peoples, corruption, over-consumption and uncontrolled industrialization will tackle the underlying causes of deforestation. We do have examples from all over the world, showing that customary forest management is a long term solution in safeguarding and ensuring sustainability.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a broad framework for guiding initiatives and projects related to climate change.

First, all initiatives and projects should recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to lands, territories and resources.

Second, all initiatives and projects should obtain Free, Prior and Informed Consent and provide enabling environments for full and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples in all steps of the process.

Third, universalistic approaches tend to disregard the complexity of local problems. Indigenous peoples will most likely suffer from such approaches as these will undermine traditional knowledge and local conditions, Therefore, all of those initiatives and projects should encourage and provide space for Indigenous Peoples to develop mitigation and adaptation alternatives based on their indigenous knowledges and practices.

Lastly, Indigenous Peoples deserve rewards for historical stewardship, benefits from avoided deforestation, local mitigation and adaptation and contributions to ecosystem resilience. For this reason, we need to be part of designing funding mechanisms addressing forests and climate change.

Colleagues in this Forest Dialogue,
We believe in our important contributions to climate change solutions, and we want to be convinced of your willingness to adapt and mitigate climate change, in ways that promote social justice, environmental integrity and human rights as essential to fulfilling our joint responsibilities at this critical moment of climate change.

Horas. Mauliate. Terimakasih. Thank you.


"Berdaulat secara Politik, Mandiri secara Ekonomi, dan Bermartabat secara Budaya" Artikel Terkait :

Kawan-kawan yang baik,
Berikut ini merupakan tulisan dari kawan kita, Abdon Nababan yang dijadwalkan untuk menyampaikan Keynote Speech pada sesi pleno Global Forest Leaders Forum di Preston Auditorium di Kantor Pusat Bank Dunia di Washington, DC, tanggal 17 September 2008, jam 09:15-09:30 waktu setempat. Forum ini diselenggarakan oleh Bank Dunia dan The Forest Dialogue bersama-sama dengan IUCN, WRI, WBCSD, PROFOR. Tulisan ini telah mendapatkan berbagai masukan dari kawan-kawan Masyarakat Adat dari Afrika, Amerika Latin dan juga dari Asia dalam prepatory meeting kemarin dan hari ini. Terimakasih untuk Ruwi, Mina dan Rukka yang telah membantu proses pembuatan naskah pidato ini. Tanpa keahlian kawan-kawan, naskah ini tidak akan ada.

Salam dari negerinya Mas Obama.
Abdon.

Global Forest Leaders Forum,
Preston Auditorium, World Bank, Washington, DC.,
17 September 2008

Keynote Speech:
Inclusive Climate Change Solutions

Mr. Abdon Nababan, Secretary General of Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago), Indonesia

Thank you, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
Over so many years we, Indigenous Peoples have seen our lives change. Recently, with climate change, we are seeing changes that we do not wish to ever happen.

I stand here before you to state this: We are more vulnerable now than ever. At any moment, we now face prolonged drought and intensifying desertification, increased frequency of extreme weather conditions, heavy rainfall and floods. There is no escape. Sea level rise will inundate most of our coastal areas and submerge small islands. Coral bleaches severely deplete our important marine ecosystems. We are seeing the shrinking of agricultural areas, reduction of fishery activities, and biodiversity loss. Food production significantly decreases too, and water becomes scarce. Competition over limited resources will increase.

This is climate change as I have seen with my own eyes a few days ago before I came here. I was in Bangko, Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia where 6 thousand people encroached on the buffer zone of the world heritage site Kerinci Seblat National Park, cleared out the forest and started to grow potato. Where just a week ago confused tigers entered the village and ate a goat. All these and why? Because both the peoples and the tiger do not understand why there is flood all of a sudden, and drought at the wrong time, and vast empty spaces where big forest used to be. Yes, this is the same Kerinci Seblat National Park where the World Bank used to have a big project, closed down only recently.

Ladies and gentlemen,
We are now in a defining moment; a moment when at stake is the very well-being of our earth, our economy is in turmoil and the lives of billions of people threatened. This is the climate change moment.

Are we ready and willing to do what it takes in this defining moment? To act and stop doing business the usual way? Climate change calls for everybody to change!

Today I stand before you to ask you this question. Are the World Bank, the Great Governments of the World, the United Nations, the Big Donors, Corporations, and citizens of the West, South, East, and North ready and willing to change?

I stand here this morning because we, Indigenous Peoples, have always had the courage to change, renew our ways of living, rejuvenate our civilizations, regrow our forests, refresh our institutions, and do our businesses differently, and in the end maintain the ecological balance of the earth, by stewarding our forests and seas. This, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, is the fundamental nature of the indigenous peoples of the world.

Climate change is not all of your making. But the failure of the growth institutions to change is greatest challenge of humankind.

Allow me to say something specific about REDD, from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples, expecially those of us living in Indonesia.

As we all know, Indonesia is one of the major greenhouse gas emitters, largely due to logging and forest conversion. Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) estimates that Indonesia has experienced deforestation of approximately 59 million ha within the last 40 years. The deforestation rate for the period of 1989 – 2003 alone was 1.99 million ha annually. Such high rate corresponds to 74% of CO2 emissions in the country, followed by energy consumption (23%) and industrial activities (3%).

In the context of REDD, much focus has been placed on avoiding deforestation in Aceh and Papua. Meanwhile, the ongoing disasters are occurring mostly in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Indonesia's carbon emissions come from forest fires, conversion of forest into other uses, unsustainable industrial logging, and other destructive activities that affect forests.

If Indonesia wants to significantly contribute to reducing emissions for the world, it needs to address the more difficult challenge of rehabilitating and restoring forests in heavily deforested Kalimantan and Sumatra, and prevent forest fires. And, unless overall policy and practices are changed, this will also mean that the government needs to drop the huge palm oil and industrial timber plantation expansion plan.

At the core of deforestation in Indonesia, lies the problem of non-recognition of rights of Indigenous Peoples to lands, forests and resources, generating conflicts between Indigenous Peoples and local communities with forestry companies, mining companies, oil palm, industrial tree plantations and government institutions.

Forest Dialogues, such as these are needed in different countries to address these conflicts.

Upholding the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of local rights-holders - Indigenous Peoples and local communities, is another mechanism to promote equity and conflict avoidance and management.

Setting up carbon forests, national parks and protected areas, or developing legality standards for timber and timber trading, will be just dealing with the symptoms of deforestation. In contrast, addressing inequalities in land tenure, discrimination against Indigenous Peoples, corruption, over-consumption and uncontrolled industrialization will tackle the underlying causes of deforestation. We do have examples from all over the world, showing that customary forest management is a long term solution in safeguarding and ensuring sustainability.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a broad framework for guiding initiatives and projects related to climate change.

First, all initiatives and projects should recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to lands, territories and resources.

Second, all initiatives and projects should obtain Free, Prior and Informed Consent and provide enabling environments for full and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples in all steps of the process.

Third, universalistic approaches tend to disregard the complexity of local problems. Indigenous peoples will most likely suffer from such approaches as these will undermine traditional knowledge and local conditions, Therefore, all of those initiatives and projects should encourage and provide space for Indigenous Peoples to develop mitigation and adaptation alternatives based on their indigenous knowledges and practices.

Lastly, Indigenous Peoples deserve rewards for historical stewardship, benefits from avoided deforestation, local mitigation and adaptation and contributions to ecosystem resilience. For this reason, we need to be part of designing funding mechanisms addressing forests and climate change.

Colleagues in this Forest Dialogue,
We believe in our important contributions to climate change solutions, and we want to be convinced of your willingness to adapt and mitigate climate change, in ways that promote social justice, environmental integrity and human rights as essential to fulfilling our joint responsibilities at this critical moment of climate change.

Horas. Mauliate. Terimakasih. Thank you.


"Berdaulat secara Politik, Mandiri secara Ekonomi, dan Bermartabat secara Budaya"