CLIMATE ACTION RADIO SHOW

August 29th, 2022 

NATURE BASED CLIMATE SOLUTIONS = INDIGENOUS LAND RIGHTS 

Produced by Vivien Langford and Amelia Goonerage

First broadcast April 25th. Since then The State of the Environment in Australia Report shows continued massive landclearing. The new Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek needs urgently to protect the Tarkine forest . To join the Bob Brown Foundation Spring Offensive Join our frontline actions - Bob Brown Foundation

THE FOREST AGREEMENT 

Episode 3 in series on COP26 Accountability

Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use - UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021 (ukcop26.org)(link is external)

GUESTS

AMELIA GOONERAGE -  Guest interviewer and  youth delegate to COP 26

TISH KING - Torres Strait Islander from SEED MOB

TIANA JAKICEVICH -  Maori youth representative at Cop 26

GIACOMO FEDELE - Swiss authority on Mangroves and adaptation to Climate change Conservation International. 3 myths about carbon offsets, busted (conservation.org)(link is external)

BRONSON GRISCOM - US scientist in Panama. He leads Conservation International Nature Based Solutions science team.Bronson Griscom (conservation.org(link is external)

MANDY KING - Australian Documentary film Maker, member  of the Order of East Timor for her contribution to their liberation. Where The Water Starts Official Trailer - Bing video

FanForce | Where The Water Starts (fan-force.com)

Only three months to go until COP 27 when we expect to see much more accountability for the pledges made to cut methane and deforestation. It is hard to get an overview but in this spirit we go to the Torres Strait Islands, New Zealand, Panama and Belgium. A clear message comes through that indigenous people have a much deeper interest in preserving their mangroves, forests and livelihoods. It is not just about carbon sequestration for them. However, valuing the carbon in living forests as opposed to dead wood may tip the balance in  all our favour. The COP 26 signatories including Australia must be held accountable.

On carbon credits:  "Research has(link is external) repeatedly(link is external) shown(link is external) that land under stewardship of Indigenous peoples tends to have far better conservation outcomes — This is a powerful reason to strengthen, not weaken, Indigenous land rights. Also, saying that the only way forward for offsets is corporate control and that Indigenous peoples are going to suffer is problematic. 

How? 

This perspective depicts Indigenous peoples as helpless by diminishing their agency and autonomy. It’s also deeply cynical, implying that humanity has learned nothing from the entire history of the conservation movement and is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.  

The fact is, high-quality carbon offsets are necessarily built upon the full and informed participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities, who have much to gain from the financial and technical benefits that carbon offset projects can provide. A major feature — indeed, much of the point — of carbon offsets is restorative justice: a wholesale transfer of wealth aimed at rewarding those who protect nature for everyone’s benefit by acknowledging their control of their lands. " 3 myths about carbon offsets, busted (conservation.org)(link is external)