FOR: Co-Chairs of the Green Climate Fund Board
Members of the Green Climate Fund Board

ATTN:  the Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund Board

Object: Development and adoption of a Fund-wide Indigenous Peoples Policy


Distinguished Co-Chairs and  Members of the Green Climate Fund Board,

As you recall in occasion of the B15 held in December  2016, the Board adopted a decision to develop and consider a Fund-wide Indigenous Peoples policy at its B17 in July 2017, a decision that was very welcomed by us Indigenous Peoples and Civil society organizations worldwide.

Since then, however, not much has happened. We understand that a draft prepared by a consultant is being considered by the Secretariat and Board before being circulated for external comments. This means that – as it stands now – the request by the Board to consider the IP Policy at the upcoming Board meeting will be unattended .

This is reason for various concerns from our side.

We believe that the development and adoption of a Fund-Wide policy on indigenous peoples is all the most more urgent, considering the parallel development of a scorecard on Results-Based Payments, that - as it stands now - pays low attention to the implications of RBPs and REDD on indigenous peoples’ rights and non-carbon benefits, and of the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), that will indeed have implications for Indigenous Peoples and related safeguards.

The second reason for concern is dictated by the preliminary findings of a research commissioned by Tebtebba to its partners in Vietnam, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru and Nicaragua, that carried out an analysis of the degree of engagement of Indigenous Peoples with their NDAs, and the Readiness Preparation Plans. The preliminary findings offer evidence of an urgent need to develop modalities to strengthen and support NDAs capacities to engage and fully consult with Indigenous Peoples, and for Indigenous Peoples to be able to access information and decision-making processes. These should in fact be some of the purposes of an Indigenous Peoples policy, as mandated by the Board.

It should also be pointed out that the urgency to adopt an Indigenous Peoples’ policy is further corroborated by the findings and recommendations of a recent research by the Rights and Resources Institute, made public in May 2017. As a matter of fact, a sample analysis of some GCF approved projects,  shows worrying faults and shortcomings in the current policies aimed at minimizing social and environmental risk and ensure full respect of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Weak enforcement of interim Environmental and Social Standards, inconsistent identification and categorization of risks, inadequate protection of indigenous peoples, local communities, and women’s rights, limited enforcement of Free, Prior, Informed Consent, and variable effectiveness of stakeholder engagement, benefit sharing, grievance/redress mechanisms and project monitoring: all these findings point to the need to develop and adopt an Indigenous Peoples’ policy as a matter of urgency.

Our vision of an Indigenous Peoples’ policy is also that of a policy tool aimed at enabling us, Indigenous Peoples, to contribute and provide solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation, by means of our traditional knowledge, and sustainable livelihoods.

It should be noted that the relevance of indigenous peoples practices and traditional knowledge in climate change adaptation and mitigation, is now formally, institutionally and practically acknowledged for the first time by the UNFCCC. The first meeting of  the “Multistakeholder Dialogue on the operationalization of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform” was held in Bonn in May 2017 with the purpose of exchanging best practices and experiences on mitigation and adaptation. We believe that a Fund-wide Indigenous peoples’ policy - with its purpose of providing enablers to ensure the effective contribution of Indigenous Peoples to the Fund’s goals and purposes – can be a strong complement to this exercise, and once adopted can already enable the Fund to capitalize on the outcomes of the Platform’s discussions and shared best practices.

We are fully aware of the substantial workload and backlog of work for the Board in its upcoming meeting, that might be one of the reasons for a re-organization of the Board agenda.  However, it would not be a good signal for the Board to not have a discussion on an Indigenous Peoples policy on its agenda for B17, or at least a progress report on its development, that will indeed require an adequate timeframe to allow for proper consultations and comments.  With this constructive spirit we wish to propose to the Board that an agenda item on a progress report on the development of a Fund-wide Indigenous Peoples’ policy be put on B17 agenda with a view to share an update on progress this far, and approve a timetable for consultations on a draft that then would necessarily have to be adopted at B18 at the latest.

We thank you very much.