“As faithful keepers of nature, we indigenous peoples have seen a ray of hope and a potentially promising future in actions to tackle climate change,” said Kimaren Ole Riamit, indiegnous Masaai from Kenya and part of the team behind the proposal.

The Green Climate Fund adopted a policy on Tuesday to reduce the adverse impacts that its projects may have on indigenous peoples. This was done without objection, and unanimously, during the 19th Session of the Board of Directors of the GCF held in Songdo, South Korea.

The measure is expected to urge recipient countries and accredited entities at the country level to fully and effectively involve indigenous peoples in the design, execution and monitoring of climate change mitigation and adaptation projects.

“This is a sign of the GCF’s willingness to recognize, respect and promote the rights of indigenous peoples in climate actions,” added Tunga Bhadra Rai, an indigenous Rai from Nepal.

This adoption has been the result of a detailed and participatory process of elaboration and consultation with indigenous organizations, civil society and other interested parties, in which TEBTEBBA and its allies play a key role advocating this initiative for many years.

The undersigned policy recognizes the relevance of international standards such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and principles such as free, prior and informed consent.

The indigenous leaders present at the meeting in South Korea also supported the adoption of the gender policy and those related to the environmental and social implications of the projects executed through the GCF. The proposals will continue to be discussed tomorrow.

Source: TEBTEBBA.

Credit: GCF