This dialogue will explore the implications of key 2015 developments in climate change policy and financing for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. New research on the gaps in recognition of indigenous and community land rights, on the eve of the Paris Agreement, provide further impetus to calls for increased attention to Indigenous Peoples, community tenure, and human rights in climate change policy and action. With regard to financing, the World Bank FCPF’s Carbon Fund is considering Emissions Reduction proposals that pose significant challenges and opportunities for the tenure rights and livelihoods of forest peoples. Furthermore, new initiatives offer potential to scale up support for community rights and climate mitigation in forests. The challenge is how to ensure strong links between climate financing mechanisms and efforts to secure rights to lands, territories and resources. The Dialogue will provide a platform for taking stock of these climate policy and financing developments and identifying priority steps forward to ensure that the rights of Indigenous Peoples and other local communities are enhanced and safeguarded.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the Government of India have pledged to make the Bank Group’s 2017 Annual Meetings a resounding success. The Meetings are scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad, the capital of the state of Gujarat, from May 22-26, 2017.
The commitment followed a Memorandum of Understanding endorsed by both parties on Thursday, September 15, 2016, at the end of the Bank’s first Annual Meetings Preparatory mission to assess facilities and logistics for the event in Ahmedabad.
“For us this is a special moment. It officially kick-starts preparations for the 2017 Annual Meetings and underscores the growing cooperation between the Bank and India in particular, and between India and Africa in general,” AfDB Secretary-General, Vincent Nmehielle, said after he signed the MOU on behalf of President Akinwumi Adesina.
The Meetings, taking place on the heels of the India-Africa Summit held in New Delhi last year, would further boost the long-standing economic cooperation between the two sides and open up new avenues for fruitful business engagements between them, he added.
The Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Bandana Preyashi, who signed on behalf of the Finance Secretary, said that the Government and people of India highly appreciate the opportunity they have been given to host the Bank’s most important annual event.