The Green Climate Fund, a fund-raising mechanism for global climate change projects, has launched a public call for inputs on its indigenous peoples’ policy.

The GCF was created by the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in order to raise money from national contributions, which will be allocated to mitigation and adaptation projects in highly vulnerable countries. So far, 45 projects have been approved to receive funding from the GCF, for a total amount of more than 10 billion dollars.

The Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change, Forests and Sustainable Development, formed by various organizations of the worldwide indigenous movement, has pointed out that an indigenous peoples’ policy for the GCF could enhance effective participation of indigenous peoples in GCF-funded projects, while preventing threats to their individual and collective rights.

The Center for the Indigenous Peoples’ Autonomy and Development (CADPI) remarked that this public call “offers an unprecedented opportunity for indigenous peoples to become involved” in the GCF process and ensure that the Fund’s activities respects international standards and compromises on the rights of indigenous peoples.

CADPI also stated that the indigenous peoples’ policy would be “a crucial instrument” to guide the implementation of UNFCCC agreements linked to the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in climate projects.

Chirapaq, as a member of the alliance, has promoted dialogue among indigenous organizations in Peru and the Americas to provide recommendations based on local climate finance experiences. The results of this process are collected in a research paper available by clicking on this link (Spanish).

How to send contributions?

Civil society and indigenous peoples’ organizations wishing to send their inputs can write directly to the GCF secretariat by e-mail. The guidelines for the submission of contributions and the draft policy for indigenous peoples are available on the GCF’s official website.