Lokono Chief Damon Corrie Attends Climate Change Consultation in Peru

Chief Damon Corrie (Lokono Arawak) presents a Taino necklace to
Lima meeting Chairperson Benito Callixto, head of the Indigenous Forum
of Abya Yala (FIAY in Spanish). The gift made was made by Taino leader and artist
Roberto Mukaro Borrero and presented on behalf of the Caribbean Amerindian Development Organization (CADO) and the United Confederation of Taino People.

Lima, Peru (UCTP Taino News) - Lokono Arawak leader Damon Corrie attended the UN Climate Conference (COP21) Regional Consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean in Lima, Peru from 12-15 October 2015. The consultation sought to consolidate regional positions on Climate Change, which would add to outcomes of similar consultations being conducted around the world. The Indigenous Peoples Global Climate Change Consultations are an initiative of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Corrie was the only indigenous representative from a Caribbean Small Island State in attendance. Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Amerindian Development Organization (CADO) and the United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP) Corrie expressed concerns of Indigenous Peoples of Caribbean small islands including global sea level and temperature rise, increasingly intense hurricanes and tropical storms, food sovereignty, and unusual rain and drought patterns. Chief Corrie intends to be present at and share these concerns, among others, at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), which will take place in Paris, France 30 Nov. - 11 December 2015. 

UCTPTN 10.16.2015 

Caribbean Indigenous Peoples Speak Out on Climate Change

Participants in session at Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change. (Photo: Johnson Cerda)

Anchorage, Alaska (UCTP Taino News) – Approximately 400 indigenous peoples’ representatives from around the world are meeting in Anchorage, Alaska this week to seek a greater role in global climate negotiations. Among the participants is a delegation of Caribbean Indigenous Peoples who will present a regional report as well as their individual experiences.

The some of the members of the Caribbean delegation include Chief Charles Williams of the Kalinago Carib Nation, Naniki Reyes Ocasio (Boriken) of the United Confederation of Taino People, Damon Corrie of the Eagle Clan Lokono Arawaks (Barbados & Guyana), and Harriet H. Vreedzaam-Joeroeja, a Galibi (Carib) from Suriname representing Stichting Sanomaro-Esa and the Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples (COIP).

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Caribbean is one of the regions most affected by Climate Change along with the Arctic and the Amazon.

A major goal of the Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change is to help strengthen the indigenous participation at the December conference of parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in Copenhagen. There, the world's governments will negotiate a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol (which expires in 2012) to reduce carbon emissions and to create an adaptation fund to help poor countries.

The Indigenous Summit will conclude on Friday with a declaration and action plan, which is to be endorsed by Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma and United Nations General Assembly President, Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann.

UCTPTN 04.23.2009