The aim of the project is to improve understanding, particularly among decision-makers, about the value of indigenous knowledge in addressing climate change.

On 27 July, the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO), together with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of its member states, launched the project to create the Amazon Regional Platform of Indigenous Peoples, the first government-backed initiative in the world.

About 40 representatives from different sectors and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member countries that make up ACTO participated in a virtual meeting where the scope of the project initiative to create the "Amazonian Regional Platform of Indigenous Peoples" was presented for the joint definition of a roadmap for its implementation and the next steps to be taken. Other representatives of governmental entities and experts on Amazonian issues and indigenous peoples also participated in the first virtual meeting of the project focal points.

This initiative is funded by the European Union through the EUROCLIMA+ Programme and implemented by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

Currently, the Amazon is home to more than 420 indigenous peoples, and has one of the largest linguistic diversities, with around 370 languages. It accounts for approximately 10% of the region's total population, highlighting the need for inclusive action by indigenous peoples on climate change management and specifically in the Amazon.

The aim of the project is to improve the understanding, particularly by decision-makers, of the value of indigenous knowledge in addressing climate change.  In this way, they can be taken into account in the design of public policies, activities and projects related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, through the implementation of a space for dialogue on knowledge from different knowledge systems.

At the opening, ACTO Secretary General Alexandra Moreira said: "Today is a special day because we are starting the implementation of this important project to create the indigenous knowledge platform for climate change, which together with the Amazon Regional Observatory and other ACTO initiatives, will contribute to climate action. It will mainly consider the knowledge, technologies and science that indigenous peoples have been developing so that they can be used in the public policies of our countries, as part of the responses to climate change.

The meeting was also attended by Walter Gutiérrez, titular representative of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) to the Facilitative Working Group of the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Platform. This is a space created within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a body that inspires regional work in the Amazon. Gutiérrez welcomed the ACTO initiative for carrying out these kinds of regional meetings, because "they are an example for promoting national and regional processes of action for climate empowerment", an experience that will be presented at the Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in November, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

The project coordinator, Elvira Gutiérrez, who works as part of the EUROCLIMA+ team with ACTO and the Implementing Agencies, during her presentation, pointed out that the specific objectives are linked to four areas related to the project components:

• The first refers to fostering the exchange of knowledge and best practices of indigenous peoples with a focus on climate change;
• the second is aimed at strengthening indigenous peoples' capacity to participate in the global climate change agenda through the constitution of the Platform;
• the third seeks to promote the design of a regional Amazonian strategy to strengthen resilience and adaptation and mitigation processes, including the important contribution of indigenous peoples' knowledge for addressing climate change.
• Finally, the fourth relates to strengthening multi-stakeholder capacities to articulate with public climate policies.

Currently, ACTO is developing actions with Indigenous Peoples, especially in the area of health with the PIACI[1] and transversally in the conservation and protection of biodiversity, forests, water management and food security, aspects that together contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Amazon Region.

About EUROCLIMA+  

EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, in particular for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), and UN Environment. 

[1] A plan for activities between Brazil and Ecuador to strengthen health care and surveillance for indigenous peoples in isolation and initial contact