Nature-based and net-zero solutions are again at the forefront of solutions offered by governments and business to deal with the climate crisis. These solutions include the creation of carbon market schemes and green energy production projects. We all know that nature-based solutions and net-zero solutions are false solutions, because they fail to address emissions reductions at source; instead they permit the destruction of ecosystems in one place for the promise of restoring ecosystems in another place. There are many documented cases of so-called climate solutions infringing on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

In many cases, carbon market initiatives involve the establishment of protected areas that restrict Indigenous Peoples' access to their ancestral lands, waters, territories and resources. Most of the time, this is done without obtaining their Free, Prior and Informed Consent. Yet, Indigenous peoples’ survival directly depends on the unrestricted access to their lands and they provide invaluable ecosystem services that allow ecosystems to thrive. Although conserved lands are presented as empty and untouched, actually, they are intensively managed landscapes. The loss of human managers with a multigenerational relationship to the land is a guarantee of ecosystem change. 

Cultural Survival and partners developed an FPIC guide to support Indigenous Peoples right to self-determination worldwide. As we continue to witness an onslaught of violations of Indigenous territories in the name of conservation, the just transition, and extractive industries, exercising the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent remains one of the most powerful tools to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples. At this session, Indigenous leaders will share experiences of violations of Indigenous rights and will present a new FPIC guidebook to support Indigenous Peoples self determination. 

Main objectives:

• Share experiences of communities facing forced removal and restricted access from their traditional lands and territories in the name of conservation, green energy projects and other so-called false climate solutions

• Discuss how to leverage the power of FPIC to protect the right of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional lands and territories

• Present a new guide for the implementation of FPIC

Speakers:

• Bryan Bixcul (Maya-Tz’utujil) - Executive Coordinator, Cultural Survival - moderator

• Galina Angarova (Buryat) - Executive Director, Cultural Survival; Chair of the Executive Committee, the SIRGE Coalition

• Devkumar Sunuwar (Koits-Sunuwar) - Community Media Program Coordinator, Cultural Survival

• Representative from Brazil 

• Representative from Peru