Euroclima+ supports the indigenous peoples of Latin America

Euroclima+ is a programme promoting regional cooperation between Latin America and the European Union on climate change. Its goal is to facilitate dialogue on regional policy and also to provide technical and financial support for the development and implementation of climate change adaptation measures and mitigation policies in the Latin American region.

From the outset, Euroclima+ has focused on the need to give gender-based priority attention to the groups that are most vulnerable to the changes that climate change is causing, as well as to those people and communities which, on account of their ways of life, are most exposed to its effects.

Latin American indigenous communities, which occupy a region that is home to very many different “ways of life” and peoples predominantly living from farming and forestry, are closely linked to the regularity of biospheric cycles meaning they are highly exposed to variations in these cycles. The increase in changes to rain and temperature patterns is directly affecting their subsistence.

Both the impacts of the alterations in the climate and the transformations to be brought about by the ecological transition, underway worldwide, will cause substantial changes in the ways of life of native Latin American peoples.

Moreover, indigenous communities are an example of harmony and a sustainable relationship with the environment that can serve as an inspiration and learning opportunity for industrialised societies.

Therefore, the voice of the native peoples must be heard and taken on board in the decisions that affect the adaptation and mitigation measures that are to be implemented.

Accordingly, the programme has supported the process of prior consultation on the Regulation for the Framework Law on Climate Change in Peru, which includes the creation of the Platform of Indigenous Peoples to Tackle Climate Change (PPICC).

Subsequent to its approval, FIIAPP, through Euroclima+, has continued to support the design and implementation of the PPICC, which serves as a vehicle to value, recognise and disseminate indigenous knowledge and practices that contribute to the comprehensive management of climate change in the country.

Through another line of action  in the programme that focuses on forests, biodiversity and ecosystems, Euroclima+ also contributes to strengthening joint work with indigenous peoples and fosters inter-learning to enhance the resilience of ecosystems and local communities in the face of climate change.

The recently launched publication “Contributions by Indigenous Peoples to Climate Action in Latin America: Experiences from the Forest, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sector”, provides a synthesis on the current situation regarding indigenous peoples and climate action in the Latin America and Caribbean countries where this programme area is implemented.