In regard to the rights of indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum reiterates its long-standing position of encouraging the United Nations, its organs and specialized agencies, as well as all States, to adopt a human rights-based approach. At the international, regional and national level, the human rights of indigenous peoples are always relevant if such rights are at risk of being undermined. Human rights are indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated. They must be respected in any context specifically concerning indigenous peoples, from environment to development, to peace and security, and many other issues.
The Permanent Forum urges the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to undertake, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, a study on the contributions of indigenous peoples to the management of ecosystems and the protection of biodiversity, and submit a report to the Forum by its nineteenth session.
The Permanent Forum reiterates its call at its twenty-first session for a clear distinction between Indigenous Peoples and local communities. All United Nations entities and States parties to treaties concerning the environment, biodiversity and climate are encouraged to eliminate the use of the term “local communities” in
connection with Indigenous Peoples, so that the term “Indigenous Peoples and localcommunities” would be abolished.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States develop mechanisms through which they can monitor and report on the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples, mindful of their socio-economic limitations as well as spiritual and cultural attachment to lands and waters.
The Permanent Forum instructs its secretariat transmit recommendations on lands, territories and natural resources as a contribution to:(a)The report of the Secretary-General to the sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development;(b)An informational document to the sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development on the thematic issue of land and sustainable agricultural rural development;(c)Transmit specific recommendations on water to the study of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the right to water.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the presence of the Minister of the Environment and International Development of Norway and the side event organized by the Government of Norway, at which the Minister held an interactive dialogue with indigenous peoples and others on the Oslo-Paris Initiative on REDD-plus. The Forum recommends that the Initiative ensure the inclusion and the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and that it not remain as an initiative of Governments only. The Forum further recommends that the Initiative ensure the implementation of the safeguards contained in the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on long-term cooperative action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on its eighth session (FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/17) which stresses the need to respect the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples, noting the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; the need for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, the non-conversion of natural forests for other uses, and the conservation of biological diversity; and the need to address the drivers of deforestation and land tenure issues.
The Permanent Forum encourages Member States to review recommendations made at past sessions, renew efforts at their implementation and report on progress made by 2021. It invites the United Nations system to support the States’ efforts in this regard.