No consensus on climate change document at indigenous summit
Last Updated: Monday, April 27, 2009 | 10:12 AM CT
CBC News
Related
Internal Links
External Links
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)
Indigenous delegates at a UN conference on climate change in Alaska could not agree on a final summit document due to disagreements over oil and gas drilling on native lands.
Some delegations at the UN-sponsored Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change were demanding a complete moratorium. Others disputed that language, saying that the use of fossil fuels should be phased out but indigenous people should be allowed to develop their resources.
Andrea Carman, representing the North American delegation, told CBC News shortly before the end of the Anchorage summit that she hoped that "we'll be able to come up with a compromise language that is still strong enough for people to support."
At the end of the five-day conference on Friday, her delegation and the group from the Kiribati and South Pacific islands declined to sign the declaration.
Organizers say even though only five of seven delegations signed on, the final declaration and a final report from the summit will be presented to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December.
Youth delegates push for stronger language
Younger delegates led the charge for stronger language in the declaration.
Some of the delegates representing areas dependent on oil for revenue and jobs were afraid to support a moratorium, because of the criticism they would face after returning home, said youth caucus member Andrea Sanders of Bethel, Alaska.
The youth delegates had considered submitting a separate declaration to the Denmark conference if they couldn't get a moratorium. Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, a 30-year-old member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in northern Alberta, said that is still an option.
The details of the summit's final declaration have yet to be made public.
Over 400 indigenous people from 80 countries attended the summit, the first such meeting on climate change focused entirely on native communities.
With files from The Associated PressShare Tools
Latest North News Headlines
- Nunavut forecasts $37.7M surplus
- Nunavut's finance minister announced that while he is forecasting a surplus, they must still be vigilant about the territory's finances. more »
- Yukon musher calls for tough sled dog rules
- A Yukon musher wants the three northern territories to enact tough laws around the care of sled dogs. more »
- Canada Goose sues competitor over alleged replicas
- Canadian outerwear manufacturer Canada Goose Inc. is suing a competitor for trademark infringement, accusing it of making shoddy replicas of the distinctive Canada Goose parkas. more »
- Air Canada ground staff reject contract deal
- Air Canada's baggage handlers, ground crews and maintenance workers rejected a tentative deal signed earlier this month with Canada's biggest airline, shortly after its dispatchers ratified a new contract. more »
Top News Headlines
- Graham James apologizes to sex-abuse victims
- Graham James, the former junior hockey coach and convicted sexual abuser whose victims included ex-NHLers Theoren Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy, has told a courtroom: "For my behaviour, I am deeply sorry.… Parents expected sons to be safe; not all were." more »
- Target dangles designer Jason Wu to lure Canadians
- Target Corporation's move into Canada, premiering with cheap fashions by hot designer Jason Wu, needs to promise and consistently deliver quality fashions at retail prices similar to U.S. rates, analysts say. more »
- Santorum, Romney spar in Republican debate
- Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum swapped accusations about spending and taxes Wednesday night in the 20th and possibly final debate of the roller-coaster race for the Republican presidential nomination. more »
- Qur'an burning riots kill 2 NATO soldiers
- Two NATO soldiers were shot and killed Thursday by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform who had joined protesters objecting to Qur'an burnings that took place at a U.S. base earlier in the week, says Reuters. more »
- PM to announce aboriginal education plans for North
- Canada Goose sues competitor over alleged replicas
- Yukon musher calls for tough sled dog rules
- Drug bust nets 2 Fort McPherson, N.W.T., men
- Bison attacks trapper's dog team
- Border services seize 75 guns in Alberta
- Nunavut forecasts $37.7M surplus
- Japanese head to Whitehorse for northern lights
- Low vitamin D linked to language problems

