Siberian native peoples complain: Our affairs are being ignored in Copenhagen!

The native peoples of Siberia feel left out at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen. This was reported on Wednesday by the Society for Threatened Peoples STP (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker GfbV), which is in constant contact with some of these indigenous groups. "There are discussion forums on the consequences of the climate change on the indigenous peoples of Greenland and Canada, but nobody takes any interest in Siberia”, is the criticism of Olga Murashko of the umbrella organisation of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, of the North and Far East of Russia levelled at the organisers of the Copenhagen conference.

Neither the Russian government nor the international community appear to be dealing in an appropriate way with the dangers produced by the climate change in Siberia for the indigenous people, criticised the STP consultant for the states of the Russian Federation, Sarah Reinke. "While Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is of the opinion that a little more warmth would not come amiss for Russia and that one could cut down on the wearing of overcoats it means that the indigenous reindeer breeders are left helpless, while their animals are starving, too weak to pull the sledges.”

A region struck by the climate change and the increasing industrial exploitation is the Yamal Peninsular, inhabited by 41,000 Nenets, of whom 10,000 still live as semi-nomads, covering from 500 to 1000 km each year with their reindeer rotating between summer and winter pastures. Together with the Sami in Sweden and Finland they belong to the last traditional reindeer breeders in the world. The Nenets are already suffering from the consequences of the climate change. Weather-forecasting is today more difficult than it was. So the reindeer-breeders are faced with more questions which they cannot answer. The ice on the River Ob, over which they used traditionally to trek on the way to their winter-pastures in the south, freezes later every year. But since the winter season now ends earlier their animals cannot find enough food and are faced with starvation.

In addition to these problems an ambitious industrial project on Yamal has its own share in destroying the way of life of the Nenets. This is a pipeline, in the construction of which the German company EON has shown interest, which will cut the migration-paths of the reindeer herds. So the indigenous people will be forced to give up the traditional reindeer breeding. The Russian government has offered them houses in Salechard, the capital of Yamal, but this solution completely disregards the wishes and needs of the Nenets. They want to be able to participate in the planning of their future.

On Yamal there are enormous deposits of oil and gas, which are to be pumped through the so-called North Stream Pipeline to various countries including Germany. The share of the EON in the pipeline is 20 percent. The chairperson of the managing board is the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

The GfbV consultant for the states of the Russian Federation, Sarah Reinke, will be glad to answer questions at s.reinke@gfbv.de