In November 2009, Survival International released a report entitled ‘The most inconvenient truth of all: climate change and indigenous people’.[i] The report sets out four key mitigation measures that threaten tribal people:

Agrifuels[ii]: promoted as an alternative, ‘green’ source of energy to fossil fuels, much of the land allocated to grow them is the ancestral land of tribal people. If agrifuels expansion continues as planned, millions of indigenous people worldwide stand to lose their land and livelihoods.

Hydro-electric power: A new boom in dam construction in the name of combating climate change is driving thousands of tribal people from their homes.

Forest conservation: [See Chapter 6]

Carbon offsetting: Tribal peoples’ forests now have a monetary value in the booming ‘carbon credits’ market. Indigenous people say this will lead to forced evictions and the ‘theft of our land’.

[i] Survival International (2009) ‘The most inconvenient truth of all: climate change and indigenous people’, Survival International: London. (November)
[ii] Also referred to as biofuels.