Youth Statement on Climate Change

Jeg er nå i New York på Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Jobber en del i Youth Caucus og vi presenterte dette statementet idag:

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Good morning Madame Chair,

I’d like to start by thanking you for this opportunity to give this intervention at this critical moment in history to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on this year’s theme regarding climate change.

We would like to acknowledge the indigenous peoples who have come from all corners of the earth to gather here today and would also like to give thanks for the mountains, lakes, rivers, seas and all living beings that have inhabited this earth and provide us with the means to survive for those are the things we are fighting for here today.

As the next generation to take responsibility and care for our mother earth, we bring you this statement and the following recommendations out of respect, honor and dignity, with our ancestor’s footprints and prayers as our guiding path. Our environment is out of balance, and its due to things that we have done together as the human race and it is a problem that we must solve together. And I believe us as indigenous people are people most affected by climate change and also are the ones most capable reverse the effects as well. We have prepared the following recommendations.

Recommendations:

1. We ask that the council use their public influence to impress upon the world the importance of acknowledging global climate change, and the amount of expediency that we need to address it with. Implementing clean, just, sustainable and renewable energy practices along with localized economies can address the problem that we all face.

2. We ask that you hold parties responsible for major sources of pollution and emissions of greenhouse gasses accountable, such as enforcing and upholding stricter global pollution regulations that will be headed by polluting parties. We are calling for a moratorium on new fossil fuel development in indigenous territories and support indigenous people’s rights to oppose carbon trading.

3. We Respectfully Request that you provide support to communities that directly suffer from the adverse effects of climate change, For if we act now not only can we reverse harm done to indigenous lands but stop the further degradation which would be left to the next generation of indigenous peoples if left untreated. We also recognize that any assistance giving now would be exponentially less then that needed if these problems continued.

4. Do to the fact that animal agriculture contributes such a large portion of greenhouse gas emissions, land consumption and deforestation we strongly urge the United Nations to research and recommend to relevant government agencies new sustainable and ecologically sound food production systems for the world.

5. In support of previous youth caucuses we call for full and effective participation and support of Indigenous youth in all discussions and decision-making processes concerning Indigenous rights. We request the Permanent Forum to establish a permanent youth component of the UNPFII (United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues). What we are asking for is support from the UN to help facilitate youth involvement in the annual forums.

We would also like to add, Madam Chairperson that we are in full support and welcome the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We call for the full implementation of this declaration in all countries of the world.

We understand that bureaucracy may prevent you from implementing any restrictive legislation but we respectively remind the council how important this issue is to not only indigenous peoples but to all of earth’s inhabitants. We have asked that you hold responsible parties accountable, enforce clean air, water, mandates, fund real effective solutions that treat the causes global climate change and not the symptoms of it but solutions designed to restore the earths integrity and prevent future degradation, and in return we make a promise to you to do all that is in our power to assist and We also commit to addressing and decreasing our amount of energy consumption that will ultimately lead to less energy needs and to lead the fight for the integrity of our earth.