A Scary Story

OCTOBER 31, 2022 | Native Children's Survival

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) will convene in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 to 18 November 2022. COP27 marks the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Ahead of COP27, the United Nations warns that the world is nowhere near hitting its climate goals outlined in the Paris agreement. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international climate change treaty adopted at COP21 in Paris, France, in 2015. Its goal is to avert climate disaster by limiting global warming to below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

For decades, Indigenous Peoples have warned about what would happen if the international community continued disregarding natural law and the wellbeing of all living things. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms, "The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and planetary health," the 2022 report reads, "Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all." The IPCC assesses the "scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation."

The first United Nations Conference to bring environmental concerns to the center of international dialogue was the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. The Conference, held in Stockholm, Sweden, adopted a series of principles, including the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment. Another outcome of the Stockholm conference was the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Many UN Conferences on Sustainable Development gave the world hope that Member-States and the international community would work together to create a safe, clean, and sustainable future. The 1972 Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, the 1992 World Summit in Rio, the 2002 World Summit in Johannesburg, the 2012 Rio+20 Conference in Rio, and the 2022 Stockholm+50 Conference in Stockholm, all held promise. Unfortunately, fifty years of conferences, declarations, and political power abuse have resulted in false solutions for bottom-line profits that have left the world in peril.

Native Children's Survival encourages the United Nations' Member-States, stakeholders, and the international community to heed nature's warnings. There are real solutions to the climate crisis. We urge the adoption and implementation of real solutions rather than the false ones that escalate climate crises and threaten Mother Earth and all her children.

We have Peoples Power! Learn more about Climate Change and engage in the global movement!