Repeating Islands

At a meeting of indigenous peoples from around the world to discuss climate change, representatives from Dominica’s Carib territory warned that coastal erosion, mud slides, longer droughts and more severe hurricanes are just some of the impacts of climate change affecting the Caribbean region. Chief Charles Williams of the Kalinago territory told the U.N.-affiliated Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change that “most indigenous people live on the margins…their ‘purses’ are not as strong as others when it comes to coping with climate change.”
“Climate change will make things significantly worse for people with difficult lives already due to discrimination, poor nutrition and health conditions,” said Anthony Oliver-Smith of the University of Florida and United Nations University’s Institute for the Environment and Human Security. “Most Indigenous Peoples today live oppressed existences as minority groups within states. Climate change for them layers another potentially crushing pressure on top of many others.”

At least 5,000 distinct groups of indigenous peoples have been identified in more than 70 countries, with a combined global population estimated at 300-350 million, representing about 6 percent of humanity.

For a full report on the conference go to http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46594