The Permanent Forum recommends that the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues convene a technical workshop on indicators, in collaboration with the United Nations organizations dealing with this issue, with the participation of indigenous experts, with a view to promoting a collaborative, complementary and holistic approach to indicators in order to enhance understanding of indigenous concerns and their possible solution, and requests the workshop to submit its report to the Permanent Forum at its sixth session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States implement emission reductions to limit the increase in average global temperature to no more than 1.5oC to avoid the increased impact of climate change.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Governments and States promote the creation of conditions for indigenous peoples that will enable them to maintain the forests in their traditional way and conserve their cultural identity, with priority accorded to indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, strengthening their capacities and highlighting the value of ancestral knowledge related to native forests. The Forum further recommends that the traditional knowledge and traditional forest management practices and governance systems of indigenous peoples for the protection and use of their forests be recognized in all forest policies and climate-related forest initiatives.
Indigenous peoples in the Pacific rely on marine resources and fisheries for both livelihoods and as a food source. The Permanent Forum encourages United Nations entities to incorporate traditional knowledge into all their work in the region.
The Permanent Forum decides to appoint a member to participate in any future meetings of the Working Group on access and benefit-sharing and the tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the sixth call for proposals of the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility of IFAD, which is focused on advancing indigenous peoples’ biodiversity conservation and sustainable management for adaptation and resilience to climate change. The Permanent Forum urges IFAD to facilitate direct access to climate financing to indigenous peoples’ communities and organizations through the Facility and the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme, and encourages Governments and donors to support those initiatives.
This dialogue follows on the international expert group meeting on the theme “Conservation and the rights of indigenous peoples” (E/C.19/2019/7). The Permanent Forum endorses the recommendations from the meeting and urges States, conservation organizations, indigenous peoples and United Nations entities to work together in implementing the recommendations.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the international community take serious measures to mitigate climate change. The survival of the traditional ways of life of indigenous peoples depends in large part on the success of international negotiations in developing strong, enforceable agreements that will truly be effective in combating climate change. The Permanent Forum concurs with a major conclusion of the Stern report that strong and immediate measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions now will be less costly than attempting to adapt to the widespread changes that unchecked climate change will cause in the future.
The Permanent Forum applauds the effective participation mechanisms for indigenous peoples in such mechanisms as the Convention on Biological Diversity Working Group on article 8 (j) and related provisions, and recommends that, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, such practices be extended to all critical areas of interest to indigenous peoples, such as the Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing and in particular the Working Group on Protected Areas.
The Permanent Forum recommends that all States work in equal partnership with indigenous peoples to develop, implement and evaluate indicators on well-being that provide an overview of the social and economic status of indigenous peoples within a holistic, integrated framework. The Forum also recommends that States invest adequate resources, in accordance with their human rights obligations, to address the indigenous social and economic needs identified by the indicator framework.
The Permanent Forum recommends that interested parties organize an international expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous peoples: sacred plants and sites, articles 11, 24 and 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, and requests that the conclusions of such a meeting be submitted to the Forum at its tenth session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the International Finance Corporation establish a mechanism of engagement with indigenous peoples in the context of its sustainability framework, including Performance Standard 7, on indigenous peoples.