Indigenous Campaigners At COP27 Channel 'spirit' Of Nature

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Nov, 2022 ) :Delegates at COP27 representing Indigenous communities -- some of the world's most vulnerable to the climate crisis -- have used traditional clothing to draw attention to their plight and urge action.

As Indigenous "communities are not the focus of discussions" at the UN climate summit in Egypt, Ninawa Huni Kui said it was important for him to visually represent his constituency as president of the Federation of Huni Kui Peoples in Brazil's Amazon basin.

"We don't have much hope for what is happening at COP27," he told AFP at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, frustrated by his lack of access to the decision-making process at the conference.

The Amazon basin, which stretches over 7.4 million square kilometres (2.9 million square miles), covers nearly 40 percent of South America and takes in nine countries, with around 34 million -- mostly Indigenous people -- living across this area.

The world's biggest rainforest, which until recently has helped soak up humanity's soaring carbon emissions, is now strained to the point of starting to release more carbon than it absorbs, rendering the recent elections in Brazil a key climate issue.

Incoming president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who arrived at COP27 on Tuesday with the world's eyes on him, has pledged to "fight for zero deforestation".

Between negotiation halls and in a designated protest space outside that has remained largely empty, small-scale demonstrations have demanded climate justice, including more urgent action to protect the Amazon.

"This COP is more restrictive than any previous one," Ninawa said.

"In other countries we could demonstrate in the street, rally more people as we went. But here we can only demonstrate inside the Blue Zone." Stroking the sacred feathers on his head -- instantly striking through a crowd of delegates in suits and activists in T-shirts -- Ninawa said he wore them "because I am a chief, but also because the birds that gave us these feathers protect us".

"I am here to represent the voice of the forest and its living creatures," he added.

"This is my community's traditional clothing. Every item here represents a spirit of the forest speaking to us."