Tell the World Bank to Consult Indigenous People on Climate Change

As international institutions and global leaders try to find solutions to global warming, they have neglected to bring Indigenous people to the table. Your support is needed to tell the World Bank to consult Indigenous people on climate change now!

The World Bank is hosting a "Global Forests Leaders" forum this week in Washington, D.C. to discuss global warming and threats to the world's forests. This meeting exemplifies the systematic exclusion of representative Indigenous leaders by international institutions. While hundreds of people - including representatives of corporations like Walmart, Weyerhaeuser and Citi - were invited, only ONE representative of a democratically elected Indigenous organization from the Amazon was asked to come. This is not acceptable, considering that the Amazon is the world's largest tropical rainforest and home to more than 300 Indigenous nations.

Meanwhile, the World Bank is moving towards the implementation of new plans for the future of the world?s forests without the knowledge or consent of the Indigenous peoples who own and protect these forests. Support Indigenous peoples by sending a letter to the World Bank now!

The Amazon plays a vital role in stabilizing global weather patterns and mitigating climate change. It also supports the greatest biological diversity on the planet. Indigenous people have been stewards of the world's forests for millennia, yet their concerns about global climate change are virtually ignored at international meetings and by international institutions like the World Bank.

Send this letter to the World Bank to demand proper participation and consultation of Indigenous people and their organizations on climate policy that will affect the future of the world's forests.


I am writing to you today to express my support for Indigenous people working to protect their traditional territories and our world's forests.  Although I am pleased that the World Bank understands the importance of tropical forests in mitigating global climate change, I'm disappointed that the voice of Indigenous leaders continues to be so limited within important climate change discussions. I therefore urge you to meet the requests presented in the letter to you yesterday by representatives of the Amazon Alliance.

The Amazon plays a vital role in stabilizing global weather patterns and restraining climate change, while supporting the greatest biological diversity on the planet.  Indigenous people have been stewards for the world's forests, for millennia.  Despite international standards requiring that Indigenous peoples give free prior informed consent to any plans that will affect their lands, the World Bank has failed to ensure that Indigenous leaders can effectively participate in climate change policy-making and planning that will dramatically impact their forests.

The World Bank has repeatedly failed to engage in valid consultation with legitimate indigenous organizations at the regional level.  For example, the World Bank deemed a closed meeting with a government foundation as sufficient consultation for all indigenous peoples of Latin America, although not a single representative Amazonian Indigenous organization was present.  The World Bank then misrepresented its consultative process-and the lack of consent from indigenous peoples-during recent G8 discussions. Worse still, recent World Bank agreements with Guyana and Bolivia, through the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, pay the national governments to restrict access to forests without the knowledge or consent of the Indigenous peoples who own and manage them.

I support the call by Indigenous peoples demanding that the World Bank cease its exclusion of Indigenous peoples and the violation of their rights. I also support their demand insisting that the World Bank submit a public report detailing exactly how it will comply with international standards, and ensure independent monitoring of its activities.  Furthermore, the World Bank must guarantee and finance the full participation of the legitimate Indigenous leaders of the world in the design and implementation of its climate change and forest management efforts.  It must create a mechanism to ensure that Indigenous peoples' organizations can be effectively involved in policy-making and planning at every stage and at every level. 

Although the World Bank is not the only institution that is violating Indigenous rights within its work on climate change, the high visibility of the World Bank provides it with a unique opportunity to raise the standards on this key issue.  The World Bank must bring an end to the marginalization of Indigenous peoples within their own homelands. 

I thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.

For More Information : http://ga3.org/campaign/world_bank

As international institutions and global leaders try to find solutions to global warming, they have neglected to bring Indigenous people to the table. Your support is needed to tell the World Bank to consult Indigenous people on climate change now!

The World Bank is hosting a "Global Forests Leaders" forum this week in Washington, D.C. to discuss global warming and threats to the world's forests. This meeting exemplifies the systematic exclusion of representative Indigenous leaders by international institutions. While hundreds of people - including representatives of corporations like Walmart, Weyerhaeuser and Citi - were invited, only ONE representative of a democratically elected Indigenous organization from the Amazon was asked to come. This is not acceptable, considering that the Amazon is the world's largest tropical rainforest and home to more than 300 Indigenous nations.

Meanwhile, the World Bank is moving towards the implementation of new plans for the future of the world?s forests without the knowledge or consent of the Indigenous peoples who own and protect these forests. Support Indigenous peoples by sending a letter to the World Bank now!

The Amazon plays a vital role in stabilizing global weather patterns and mitigating climate change. It also supports the greatest biological diversity on the planet. Indigenous people have been stewards of the world's forests for millennia, yet their concerns about global climate change are virtually ignored at international meetings and by international institutions like the World Bank.

Send this letter to the World Bank to demand proper participation and consultation of Indigenous people and their organizations on climate policy that will affect the future of the world's forests.


I am writing to you today to express my support for Indigenous people working to protect their traditional territories and our world's forests.  Although I am pleased that the World Bank understands the importance of tropical forests in mitigating global climate change, I'm disappointed that the voice of Indigenous leaders continues to be so limited within important climate change discussions. I therefore urge you to meet the requests presented in the letter to you yesterday by representatives of the Amazon Alliance.

The Amazon plays a vital role in stabilizing global weather patterns and restraining climate change, while supporting the greatest biological diversity on the planet.  Indigenous people have been stewards for the world's forests, for millennia.  Despite international standards requiring that Indigenous peoples give free prior informed consent to any plans that will affect their lands, the World Bank has failed to ensure that Indigenous leaders can effectively participate in climate change policy-making and planning that will dramatically impact their forests.

The World Bank has repeatedly failed to engage in valid consultation with legitimate indigenous organizations at the regional level.  For example, the World Bank deemed a closed meeting with a government foundation as sufficient consultation for all indigenous peoples of Latin America, although not a single representative Amazonian Indigenous organization was present.  The World Bank then misrepresented its consultative process-and the lack of consent from indigenous peoples-during recent G8 discussions. Worse still, recent World Bank agreements with Guyana and Bolivia, through the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, pay the national governments to restrict access to forests without the knowledge or consent of the Indigenous peoples who own and manage them.

I support the call by Indigenous peoples demanding that the World Bank cease its exclusion of Indigenous peoples and the violation of their rights. I also support their demand insisting that the World Bank submit a public report detailing exactly how it will comply with international standards, and ensure independent monitoring of its activities.  Furthermore, the World Bank must guarantee and finance the full participation of the legitimate Indigenous leaders of the world in the design and implementation of its climate change and forest management efforts.  It must create a mechanism to ensure that Indigenous peoples' organizations can be effectively involved in policy-making and planning at every stage and at every level. 

Although the World Bank is not the only institution that is violating Indigenous rights within its work on climate change, the high visibility of the World Bank provides it with a unique opportunity to raise the standards on this key issue.  The World Bank must bring an end to the marginalization of Indigenous peoples within their own homelands. 

I thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.

For More Information : http://ga3.org/campaign/world_bank