Ban Ki-moon Urges Leaders to Ensure that Indigenous Peoples' Rights and Cultural Contributions Remain Central in Combating Climate Change

• Author: Øyvind Ravna
• Pages: 91-92

Ban Ki-moon Urges Leaders to Ensure

that Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and

Cultural Contributions Remain Central

in Combating Climate Change

Øyvind Ravna,

Professor, Faculty of Law, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Trosmø, Norway;

Editor-in-chief, Arctic Review on Law and Politics

On 8 October 2016, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received the Arctic

Circle Prize 2016 for his leadership in bring ing together world leaders for the Paris

climate agreement. The Secretary-General gave an impressive acceptance speech at

the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, which addressed the challenges facing

the global community created by rapidly increasing climate change. That he urged

political leaders on all levels to increase their efforts to prevent climate change, and

do everything in their power to stay within the two-degree aim, was not so surprising.

What was more surprising was that he spent a considerable portion of the roughly

20-minute speech highlighting the importance of the traditional knowledge of indi-

genous peoples in fighting climate change. That he did so was particularly pleasing

for those of us who work with indigenous peoples’ rights and issues.

The Secretary-General introduced the subject of indigenous peoples’ knowledge

by urging the 2,000 delegates at the Arctic Circle Assembly to remember the many

indigenous peoples who are on the front lines when it comes to facing climate

change. Here is what the Secretary-General said:

What happens in the Arctic affects us all. But let us remember those on the front

lines, the many indigenous peoples who have lived here for centuries. They

contribute to the Arctic’s diversity and sustainable resource management. Yet, as

with the developing countries, those who have contributed least to climate change,

they are hit first and hardest by serious consequences for their safety, health and

human rights.

Indigenous peoples are also affected by national strategies for climate change

adaptation, especially renewable energy initiatives such as windmill farms and

hydropower projects, which often take place in their territories. This has created

tension and brought displacement and dispossession.

Arctic Review on Law and Politics

Vol. 7, No. 2, 2016, pp. 199200

#2016 Ø. Ravna. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution-

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Citation: Ø. Ravna.‘‘Ban Ki-moon Urges Leadersto Ensure that Indigenous Peoples’Rights and Cultural ContributionsRemain Central in

CombatingClimate Change.’’ Arctic Reviewon Law and Politics,Vol. 7, No.2, 2016, pp. 199200. http://dx.doi.org/10.17585/arctic.v7.581 199