Indigenous peoples, impacted by climate change, raise alarm about the planet at COP29
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — They share stories of rising seas, burning trees, contaminated water and disease. But they also come ready to discuss solutions, sharing work their communities are doing to help confront a major threat to life on Earth: climate change.
For the many Indigenous peoples who attend the annual U.N. climate talks, this year being held in Azerbaijan, it's a chance to make their voices heard. Their communities are often hard hit by weather extremes that are made worse by climate change. At the same time, traditional practices make many such communities vital in efforts to combat global warming. After all, for thousands of years Indigenous peoples around the world have successfully cared for lands, finding a balance with nature.
The Associated Press asked 12 Indigenous people attending this year’s negotiations to say one thing about how climate change is impacting their community, or how their community is helping to combat climate change. Here are their reflections:
Saina Ekaterina Savvinova, 53Indigenous community: Yakut
Location: Yakutsk, Russia
“When I was a child, we had a lot of snow. We played in it. We made labyrinths with it. Now we don’t have much snow.”
Antumalen Ayelen Antillanca Urrutia, 26Indigenous community: Mapuche Huilliche
Location: Huapi Island, Chile
“As a young Mapuche, I denounce the contamination of my home of Ranco Lake in southern Chile. I live on the third largest lake, on an island in the middle of it, and we do not have drinking water.”
Sydney Males, 27Indigenous community: Kichwa Otavalo
Location: Otavalo, Ecuador
“We have a connection, like an energy, with the lakes, with the water in general. We have a connection with fire, we have a connection with the the air and other things that you in the Occident don't have a...