Protection of the Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic

Göttingen
The peoples of the indigenous communities in the Arctic, numbering about 400,000 suffer twice from the hunger for energy of the industrial countries. On the one hand, they are faced with the effects of the climate change, on the other, they have to struggle with the serious environmental ravages caused by the mining for oil and gas in their territory. It is especially the industrial countries, among them Germany, which contribute with their high CO-2 emissions to global warming. For this reason it is the industrial countries which must take up responsibility for these first victims of the climate change. The AGM of the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) demands that the consequences of the climate change – like for example the melting of the "eternal ice” must not be exploited for an increase in the plundering of resources. The unique habitat Arctic must be protected. Germany is the largest customer of the Russian mineral oil and natural gas and the most important economic partner of the Russian Federation. Some 30 – 40% of the mineral oil and gas imported by Germany comes from precisely those areas where the indigenous people live. The AGM of the GfbV demands that the German government in dialogue with the large concerns like Wintershall (Kassel) or Ruhrgas (Essen) must press in the matter of drilling for and exporting oil and gas for the highest environmental and social standards possible. The AGM of the GfbV calls on Germany, Russia and Canada as member states of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to press for the indigenous groups of the Arctic to play an active part in decision-making processes concerning the climate. They must not be treated merely as observers. Science and politics should conduct the dialogue with the indigenous people not only as persons affected, but also as experts in dealing with the changes in order to protect the global climate and to react in an adequate manner to the climate changes. The situation of the indigenous groups in the Russian Federation is highly disturbing. Large tracts of land especially in West Siberia have been so badly destroyed and contaminated by the ruthless mining for oil and gas that the people are becoming ill. Their life expectation lies ten years below that of the Russian average. The level of their health care is extremely low. For this reason the AGM of the GfbV calls for financial support of health projects in Siberia.