2014/01/01 by David L. Preston · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Arctic and Russian Policy Studies #Environmental law and policy #International Maritime Law Issues
paper · doi:10.1353/lag.2014.0042
openalex publication_date 2014/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
Reviewed by: Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples. The Search for Legal Remedies ed. by Randall S Abate and Elizabeth Kronk Warner David Preston Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples. The Search for Legal Remedies. Randall S Abate and Elizabeth Kronk Warner (editors). Cheltenham, UK and Northampton MA: Edward Elgar. 2013, xxvii + 590 pp., notes and index. 235 cloth (ISBN 9781781001790). This book is noteworthy for being written by individuals with legal training and practical legal experience in many different parts of the world where indigenous people are part of the human population and which, by the very diversity of geographical locations, have a very wide range of experiences [End Page 251] of climate change. It is particularly noteworthy that a number of the authors are indigenous people or have been accorded such status by indigenous people. The 25 chapters include an initial section of six chapters which consider communality between indigenous communities, as well as their status and rights under international human rights law. Furthermore, the concept of sovereignty is necessarily considered under both international and domestic law. This is particularly important since domestic law frequently insists that those living within national territorial boundaries may not have recourse to supranational (international) law. The main section of the volume focusses on experience of indigenous peoples in the Arctic, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Island nations, Asia, Africa and South America. It is unfortunate that a chapter on the Ojibwe people of North America is erroneously included in the South America section. The need to recognise communalities between indigenous peoples is clearly and sensitively discussed in the introductory chapters. It is important to recognise that there are common histories of colonisation and oppression by incomers and this often disadvantages indigenous people from seeking redress. In particular, their strong spiritual and cultural connections with their physical environment and its remote past deepen their concern with the changes being experienced in climate. The only chapter concerned with South America focusses on REDD+ and its relation to Brazilian indigenous peoples’ responses to climate change. It contains a very clear summary of the multiple challenges that have to be confronted by the state and indigenous people if international programs such as REDD+ are to have positive impacts on forest conservation as well as show respect for indigenous people and their forest-based livelihoods. The illegal clearing of forests, mining and major national projects, involving dam construction and the ensuing flooding of indigenous peoples’ land, are highlighted as major political and environmental challenges that confront national government, indigenous people and those trying to design policies that reduce carbon emissions and respect indigenous peoples’ rights. A most important conclusion of this chapter is that it is crucial that the detailed terms of agreement by the indigenous peoples involved in REDD+ participation are democratically decided by the peoples’ concerned and avoids their leaders’ receiving disproportionate benefits. The strengths and weaknesses of the ways in which climate change impacts on indigenous peoples are well illustrated in the chapters on the Saami of Scandinavia, the Australian and Torres Strait aboriginal peoples. Saami people, inhabiting the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, are affected by new weather patterns that cause the reindeer on which they depend to alter their seasonal movements. The Saami have a range of customary adaptive strategies but these often are negatively affected by state intervention in relation to land uses which do not fully recognise the particular needs of indigenous people. Many Saami are well-educated and aware of the situations affecting all circumpolar people and have created international networks but their influence is very limited. While recognising that scientific knowledge already shows the extent to which Australian aboriginal and particularly Torres Strait Islander livelihoods are already experiencing new hazards from rising tides and different weather patterns, native people may also suffer from difficulties in discharging cultural [End Page 252] obligations that are seldom fully recognised by national government legislation. The author considers the possible positive impact on a minority of rural-based aboriginal communities that may benefit from existing legislation that stimulates carbon-offset projects such as fire management and the stimulation of biodiversity. When the large numbers of urban-based and predominantly low-income...