ABSTRACT
Indigenous peoples belong to those societal groups most heavily affected by the impacts of climate change and by governance arrangements on forests. In more recent years they have strived to bring their concerns to the fore in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This paper investigates how indigenous peoples have framed their participation in REDD+, an initiative to protect forests to combat climate change. Indigenous peoples reframed their affectedness that results from their proximity to, and dependence on, forests, into an asset by emphasising their specific knowledge and expertise in managing natural forests. This reframing can be seen as an example of the spread of the ‘affectedness paradigm’ in global (climate) politics that manifests itself across levels. At the UNFCCC, indigenous peoples have managed to expand the recognition of their rights through REDD+ decisions. REDD+ financing initiatives outside the UNFCCC have adopted detailed rules to expand indigenous peoples’ participation. This led to the creation of new spaces of participation, particularly, round tables, that involve indigenous peoples’ organisations in deliberations with governments, as we observe in Latin America. Such participation is an opportunity for indigenous peoples to influence policy processes but there is also considerable risk of co-optation.
Abbreviations: UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; REDD+: ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries; FCPF: Forest Carbon Partnership Facility; UNDRIP: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; FPIC: free, prior and informed consent; COONAPIP: Coordinadora Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas de Panamá; AIDESEP: Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest; RIA: REDD+ Indígena Amazónico; CONPAH: Confederación de Pueblos Autóctonos de Honduras; COPINH: Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas; CONAP: Confederation of Amazonian Nationalities of Peru.
