The Permanent Forum recognizes the harm that the recent decision of the European Parliament regarding the seal product import ban may cause Inuit in the Arctic, and calls upon the European Union to rescind this import ban and, failing that, to enter into direct and meaningful dialogue with the Inuit Circumpolar Council to discuss ways of moving forward. Furthermore, the European Union must make decisions that affect both European and non-European indigenous peoples taking into account their right to free, prior and informed consent.
The Forum recommends to the Economic and Social Council that the United Nations system guarantee the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in appropriate processes and environmental conventions, such as those on desertification, wetlands and climate change.
Those violations also take place in countries that have ratified the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). The Permanent Forum recommends that countries that have ratified that Convention update their legislation and legal systems to conform with the Convention and its provisions. The Permanent Forum welcomes the landmark ruling in October 2021 by the Supreme Court of Norway protecting Indigenous Peoples from the establishment of a windmill park that would interfere with their traditional reindeer grazing areas. The Permanent Forum urges the Government of Norway to implement the decision of the Supreme Court without delay. It also recommends that Norway urgently address the allegations of increased incidents of hate speech online and offline against the Saami peoples following the Supreme Court ruling.
The Permanent Forum urges States to recognize indigenous peoples’ customary laws on genetic resources and traditional knowledge and to consider the development of sui generis systems based on such customary laws, as appropriate, for the protection of traditional knowledge and access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.