States Fail to Adequately Address Climate Change
An Indigenous Peoples’ Analysis of COP26 Decisions
Indigenous Peoples represented the second-largest civil society delegation in attendance at COP26. Photo by Avexnim Cojti.
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F CS Staff
rom October 31–November 12, 2021, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP26) took place in Glasgow, Scotland. Despite the tremendous efforts brought forth by the delegation of Indigenous Peoples from around the world, global leaders failed to act on the urgency of the climate crisis. The global community must wake up and acknowledge that fighting climate change requires true commitment and changed behaviors now. Indigenous Peoples represented the second-largest civil society delegation in attendance at COP26, second only to oil and gas lobbyists. The general feeling towards COP26 is best captured by Cultural Survival’s Lead on Brazil and COP26 delegate, Edson Krenak (Krenak): “COP26 brought us many disappointments. As always, Indigenous Peoples, as guardians of the land, did not sit at the table where negotiations and decisions were made.
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States continue, together with corporations, to try to save the economy, the money machine that is capitalism or colonialism. They are not working to save the planet!” We are resilient and adaptive Peoples, and we will continue to do our part in holding our sacred responsibilities towards Mother Earth. Even though Indigenous Peoples were not at the helm of the decision-making machine, we were successful in voicing our concerns regarding climate issues in our communities and influencing policies that will have a direct impact on our communities. We also strengthened our resolve to continue to make our voices in these international spaces heard and continue to push for the recognition of human rights and the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. “For a while, Indigenous Peoples have been advocating to have one seat. Even if one seat is insufficient, one seat [is] to represent Indigenous knowledge, science, and perspective on that climate technology network,” said Graeme Reed (Anishinaabe), Co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change about the Climate Technology Center and Networks Advisory Body.
Adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact
The Glasgow Climate Pact, adopted by nearly 200 countries, goes further than the Paris Agreement, aiming to set global warming targets to 1.5 degrees Celsius while recognizing that there is no safe limit for global warming. The chief organizer of COP26, Alok Sharma, described the Glasgow Pact as “a fragile win,” affirming the general feeling that not enough is being done with respect to the climate change crisis. While numerous member States committed to the phase-out of coal, some of the leading coal-dependent countries like the United States, Australia, India, and China did not. Major international banks committed to effectively end all international public financing of new unabated coal power by the end of 2021, while member States such as Denmark, Canada, Italy, and the United States, along with other public finance institutions, created a joint statement that commits to ending international public support for the unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022.
