The CCMIN was established by Asia Indigenous Peoples' Pact together with its partner organisations as a channel for information dissemination and exchange at the local, national and regional levels on climate change issues relating to indigenous peoples. Through this monitoring and information network, AIPP hopes to facilitate greater sharing and access to information, and to contribute to awareness-raising and drawing of attention to the particular issues of indigenous peoples and climate change. This partnership endeavor pays special attention to Reducing Emission from De-forestation and Degradation (REDD) as a mitigation measure against global warming.
January 19 2012
Participants at the Indigenous Peoples' open-ended Brainstorming Meeting on the World Conference in 2014, Copenhagen 12 January 2012
Last Friday and Saturday, around 30 indigenous peoples’ representatives and invited UN experts met in Copenhagen to brainstorm about how best to secure indigenous peoples' full participation in the planning and celebration of the 2014 UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. The organizing of a World Conference on indigenous peoples was decided by the UN General Assembly at its 65th session in 2010. It is, however, still very unclear and undecided which form the Conference will take, as the UN resolution merely talks about organizing a “high-level meeting of the General Assembly that is to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples”.
In December 2010, after years of negotiations, an agreement on REDD was finally reached at the 16th Conference of Parties (COP 16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico. The agreement includes references to indigenous peoples and their rights, and in paragraph 72 of the agreement, country Parties are requested to ensure “the full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, inter alia, indigenous peoples and local communities” when developing and implementing their national strategies or action plans on REDD.
Introduction
Lands and territories inhabited by most indigenous peoples across the globe are rich in natural resources. Through generations of experimentation and as custodians, the indigenous peoples have developed an expansive body of knowledge for sustainable use and management of these resources. The continuity of this knowledge and sustainable use and management practices of these resources are enforced through rules, beliefs and taboos which form a part of their customary laws.
Many Indigenous Peoples fear that the implementation of REDD+ may have the same impacts to them as the imposition of conservation areas such as national parks. They are apprehensive about implementing REDD+ because such imposition has led to conflicts, physical and economic displacements, food insecurity and loss of income, and loss of biodiversity and traditional knowledge due to prohibitions of their traditional livelihoods, resettlement or eviction. 
Indigenous peoples depend on natural resources for their livelihood and they often inhabit diverse but fragile ecosystems. At the same time indigenous peoples are among the world’s most marginalized, impoverished and vulnerable peoples. While having hardly contributed anything to the cause of global warming, they are among the most heavily affected. However, they have minimal access to resources to cope with the changes.
