Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Rudolph Ryser, Ph.D.

Professor Rudolph Ryser reported the content of an intervention to the Adhoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocols (AWG-KP) summit in Durban, South Africa, in support of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC). His report stressed the urgency of strengthening the Kyoto Protocol and cutting greenhouse gas emissions to protect Indigenous Peoples, especially in Africa, who are already suffering from the impacts of climate change.

His report warned that pressures to weaken the Kyoto Protocols could result in at least 5 degrees warming, and could lead to the destruction of cultures and the ecocide of territories. The intervention called for the AWG-KP to incorporate safeguards for adaptation and mitigation measures that are negatively impacting Indigenous Peoples. The formation of such an Indigenous Peoples’ Expert Group under the Kyoto Protocol must include Indigenous Peoples to be certain their rights are protected: rights to lands, territories and resources, full and effective participation, as well as the right to free, prior and informed consent, in line with applicable universal human rights instruments, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.


Professor Ryser is currently lecturing in Mexico under a Fulbright Scholarship Grant regarding the application of traditional knowledge to food security adaptation strategies in response to the adverse effects of climate change.

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