About IWGIAUN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC
Indigenous peoples engage in the UNFCCC process to advocate for the agreements under the convention to recognize their special concerns and human rights.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, is an international treaty created at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 to tackle the growing problem of global warming and related harmful changes in the climate, such as more frequent droughts, hurricanes and rising sea levels.
Indigenous rights issues cut across almost all areas of negotiation but have been highlighted most significantly within the negotiations on forest conservation, known as REDD+ , Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, one of the mitigation measures negotiated under the AWG-LCA.
Indigenous participation
Indigenous peoples have been engaged in the UNFCCC process since the year 2000. Indigenous peoples’ NGOs can apply for observer status under the convention, and those that are accepted can nominate participants to the sessions of the different bodies under the convention.
The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change, IIPFCC, is the joint indigenous caucus in the UNFCCC process, a body that is open to those indigenous activists that wish to engage in the negotiations at any given time.
The Kyoto Protocol
The UNFCCC entered into force in 1994, and has near universal membership, with 192 countries as ratifying parties. In 1997, the Convention established its Kyoto Protocol, ratified by 184 parties, by which a number of industrialized countries have committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in line with legally binding targets. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force in 2005 and, during its first commitment period from 2008- 2012, 37 industrialized countries and the European Union committed themselves to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5 percent by 2012, in relation to the 1990 level.
The Bali Action Plan and the AWG-LCA
In 2007, the Convention’s governing body, the Conference of the Parties (COP), adopted the Bali Action Plan - a road map for strengthening international action on climate change and enabling full implementation of the Convention through an agreement covering all parties to the Convention.
The elements of the Bali Action Plan, a shared vision, mitigation, adaptation, technology development and transfer, provision of financial resources and investments, are negotiated in the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action, AWG-LCA.
SBSTA and SBI
Apart from the Kyoto Protocol’s working group, AWG-KP, and the AWG-LCA, the convention has two permanent subsidiary bodies, namely the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, SBSTA, and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, SBI.
COP 17 in Durban
From 28 November – 9 December the international climate community will meet in Durban, South Africa, for the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Indigenous peoples will be represented in great numbers, negotiating for their rights to be respected and protected in a number of issues crucial for all aspects of their lives and their environments.
In October 2011, indigenous peoples met in Oaxaca, Mexico at the invitation of the government of Mexico, in order to prepare for and to discuss strategies and priorities for their involvement at the COP17. These are summarized in the Oaxaca Action Plan of Indigenous Peoples: From Cancún to Durban and beyond. 
Indigenous Caucus meeting 26th - 27th of November 2011
The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) will meet for a global indigenous caucus meeting from 26th – 27th of November. Focal persons and a press team will be defined there and news and updates will be posted to IWGIA’s website.
Cop 16 and other developments of 2010
A clear failure, a small step in the right direction or a lifeboat for a desperate multilateral system? Indeed, assessing the outcome of the 16th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, held in Cancún in December 2010, is a complex exercise given the many elements and variables to be taken into account.
