NDC Dialogue - A participatory process for NDC implementation in Peru

Dialogue with indigenous peoples: Participatory process for the construction of the Regulation of the Framework Law on Climate Change in Peru.

Having signed the Paris Agreement and ratified its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2016, Peru aims at the reduction of 20 percent of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and at strengthening adaptation policies in five prioritized sectors, namely water, agriculture, fishing, forests and health to reduce climate change vulnerability.

Peru’s response to the new challenges and self-set goals in light of climate change did not take long. In April 2018, Peru enacted the Framework Law on Climate Change. This law establishes general dispositions for the coordination, articulation, design, execution, reporting, monitoring, evaluation and the dissemination of public policies for a holistic approach to climate change management, as well as allocating competencies and functions to the three government levels: national, regional and local.

Between July and September 2018, with the support of the IKI project ‘Adapting Public Investment to Climate Change in Latin America (IPACC II)’, the Peruvian government started a participatory and decentralized process entitled “Let’s talk about the Regulation of the Framework Law on Climate Change”. This process, led by the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM), set out to collect the contributions of all different stakeholders to the Framework Law. 48 workshops and meetings were held at a central level, eight decentralized workshops at regional level and seven more with indigenous peoples. Over 2,200 representatives from the public sector, private sector, civil society, indigenous peoples, youth, NGO’s and academia had the chance to share their opinions on the proposed regulations.

Peru had deployed a participatory process with a firm step; however, the participation of indigenous peoples was still left to reconfirm. “We want that the regulation of the Framework Law on Climate Change text goes through a prior consultation process, which is an indigenous peoples’ right and a State compromise on international level. We are convinced that if we continue the path of dialogue and promotion of participation, we are going to be able to implement the changes the country needs”, said Fabiola Muñoz, Minister of Environment at the time.

Although the participation and the contribution of the indigenous organisations was taken into account in the participatory process for the elaboration of the Regulation, the indigenous peoples requested that a prior consultation process should be carried out with the seven national organisations of indigenous peoples that are recognized by the Peruvian State through the Ministry of Culture. These organisations are: The Inter-Ethnic Association of the Peruvian Jungle Development (AIDESEP), the Peruvian Peasant Confederation (CCP), the Peruvian Amazon Nationalities Confederation (CONAP), the National Agrarian Confederation (CNA), the National Federation of Peasant, Artisan, Indigenous, Native and Salaried Women of Peru (FENMUCARINAP), the National Organisation of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru (ONAMIAP) and the National Union of Aimara Communities (UNCA).

The prior consultation is an indigenous peoples’ right established by Peruvian law and the 169th Convention of the International Labor Organisation (ILO). Its goal is to achieve a prior agreement or consent, free and well informed between the State and the indigenous peoples, in this case regarding the Regulation of the Framework Law on Climate Change, where there are elements that directly affect their collective rights.

The indigenous peoples’ demand was heard:  In November 2018, the Minister of Environment attended the Working Group on Indigenous Policies meeting to announce the beginning of the prior consultation process of the Regulation of the Framework Law on Climate Change. Thereby the Ministry of Environment started the process that comprises seven consecutive and mandatory stages: (1) Measure identification; (2) Identification of the peoples and their representative organisations; (3) Measure publicity; (4) Information; (5) Indigenous peoples’ internal evaluation; (6) Intercultural dialogue; and (7) Decision.

In February 2019, the former Deputy Minister of Environment, Lucía Ruiz, delivered the prior consulting plan to the representatives of the seven national organisations. The plan includes 59 identified contents related to the indigenous peoples´ rights and ways of living that could be positively or negatively affected - 24 identified by the Ministry of Environment and 35 added by the national representative organisations of the indigenous peoples. “WE from the Ministry are firmly committed to enable an open dialogue and trust building. We recognize the valuable contribution of nature and of the indigenous or native peoples to the development of the country”, said Lucía Ruiz, who is now Minister of Environment-. The meeting was also attended by the ILO Office for the Andean Countries and the Peruvian Ministry of Culture (MINCU) representatives.

According to the prior consulting plan, the Ministry of Environment, had accomplished three out of seven stages of the process. Between March and May 2019, the informative stage of the prior consultation took place. Around 1,000 people participated in twelve decentralized workshops taking place in the coastal cities Lima and Trujillo, the Andean cities Cusco, Puno and Ayacucho, and the Amazon cities Iquitos, Pucallpa, Yurimaguas, Bagua, Atalaya, Puerto Maldonado and Satipo. The workshops were translated into the five most important native languages (Quechua, Aimara, Shipibo Conibo, Awajún and Asháninka) and gave opportunity to clarify doubts about technical aspects of the regulation and about climate change. Two national workshops were held in the city of Lima as well: A space for the participation of indigenous women exclusively, following social inclusion and transparency principles, and a workshop with the participation of indigenous representatives from the seven national organisations.

The process of prior consultation continues and the so-called intercultural dialogue stage between the indigenous organisations’ representatives and the Ministry of Environment is currently taking place.

The prior consulting process of the regulation of the Framework Law on Climate Change as well as the format “Let’s talk about the Regulation of the Framework Law on Climate Change” are made possible thanks to the support of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in the framework of its International Climate Initiative (IKI). The IKI project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.