Antinuclear

Vital for aborigines to participate in climate change action

The State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples says climate change hurts indigenous people disproportionately, and in some places threatens their existence.

The Australian author of the environmental chapter, Neva Collings, said Aborigines often missed out on the economic gains of protecting the environment…….Indigenous voices were often lost in the battle among nations fighting to get the best deals in international agreements, such as the emissions trading scheme……

Climate change hits indigenous people hardest because of their dependency on the land, and the wildlife it sustains, the report says.

Environmental degradation diminishes opportunities to hunt and fish, depletes revenue from activities such as tourism, and can force relocation.

Indigenous people also often live in physically isolated, harsh and fragile environments that are more vulnerable to climate change.

”Despite having contributed the least to greenhouse gases, indigenous peoples are the ones most at risk from the consequences,” the report says.

The creation of so-called green-collar jobs for Aborigines, such as park ranger work or solar panel installation, was necessary to reduce the financial blow for participating in international environmental protection schemes. Economic opportunities could not rest on mining, Ms Collings said……Rising sea levels, and the associated environmental losses, would hurt almost all of the Torres Strait Islander population and about 70 per cent of Aboriginal people http://www.smh.com.au/environment/environment-jobs-vital-for-aborigines-says-un-study-20100114-ma8f.html

January 14, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, energy | aboriginal, antinuclear, Australia, climate change, climate change - global warming, energy, renewable