Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru will not be able to meet their climate goals for 2030 unless they protect the lands of indigenous communities, concluded a report presented on Thursday (31).
To meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, the international community must take into account the lands of indigenous peoples and local communities (PILC), says the document prepared by the Institute of Resources. (WRI) and Climate Focus.
Ninety-two percent of the forest areas of the four countries’ IPLCs are net carbon sinks (they absorb more than they emit) and each hectare captures, on average, 30 tonnes of carbon per year.
On average, they “capture more than twice as much carbon as non-indigenous people”, due to their traditional and sustainable practices and because their lands are largely covered by virgin forest.
“Indigenous and local communities really act as a kind of silent saviors who are putting the brakes on the climate crisis, but not getting the recognition they need and, more importantly, support to take positive steps,” said one of its authors, Darragh Conway, Climate Focus legal advisor.
The authors consider that if measures are not implemented to protect the forested areas of the PILC in these countries, “drastic actions would be necessary, practically impossible in other sectors”.
threatened lands
Conway gave Peru as an example, which “would have to withdraw its entire car park to compensate for the loss of only half of the carbon capture services provided by forests that are in the hands of indigenous peoples and local communities.”
Brazil and Colombia would have to withdraw 80% of their vehicle fleet and Mexico 35% to compensate.
In the four countries, responsible for 5.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, “these lands are under constant threat from cattle ranching, mining and deforestation, which is largely illegal and linked to corruption and complicity between governments and illegal actors”, denounced the study.
The authors urge Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, which are home to more than 300 indigenous groups, to accelerate titling and ensure that indigenous and local communities have full rights to the land, as well as respect their right “to free, prior and informed” before carrying out projects in its territory.
“They have customary rights, but they are not secure, and that makes them particularly vulnerable to any type of development project, such as oil fields” in Amazonas, says Conway.
Harol Rincón Ipuchima, an indigenous leader of the Maguta people, of the Grulla clan in the Colombian Amazon, agreed at the press conference that “the most important thing is to shield land tenure” at the constitutional level.
Governance frameworks in the four countries “are a long way from what is needed to take advantage of the mitigation potential offered by IPLC lands”, warns the report, which urges governments to take more account of local communities.
Brazil in the opposite direction
Adriana Ramos, coordinator of the policy and law program at the Brazilian NGO ISA (Instituto Socioambiental), complains.
“Brazil is in the opposite direction”, he assured. The government of Jair Bolsonaro “not only dismantled cultural policies and those to advance the sustainable management of indigenous territories, but also encouraged the invasion of indigenous lands by miners, loggers and other illegalities”, he accused.
The Paris Agreement asks each country to plan its post-2020 climate action, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
The report ensures that the countries analyzed are far behind when it comes to including the lands of indigenous and local communities in these plans, despite representing an important part of the world’s forest carbon.
The four countries signed the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use 2021, in which they committed to ending forest loss and land degradation by 2030.
