The second day of the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Arctic Pavilion began with a session of the Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous People Problems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences «Synthesis of Academy and traditional knowledge for adaptation of indigenous peoples to climate change in Russia».

The main part of the session speakers participated in the online format. The issues of applying traditional knowledge and combining it with research of scientific organizations to obtain an objective picture were discussed. Such a synthesis works particularly well when researching climate change and its impact on the resilience of indigenous communities. Community-based environmental monitoring provides reliable information, sometimes without organizing expensive expeditions. The Northern Forum had a good practice of such projects and the results of the observations of indigenous peoples of the Russian Arctic were included in the Arctic Council reports.

It was interesting to hear the opinions of youth from Africa, Brazil at the session «Can strong youth climate engagement in the Arctic foster effective youth climate cooperation around the world?», organized by the Youth Climate Council Global Alliance. Curiously, there were no representatives of Arctic youth in the speakers. Nevertheless, the participants tried to convey the idea that the experience of young professionals from the Arctic countries would be in great demand worldwide.

The session «Climate Crisis in the Context of Standards Development for Business and Indigenous Peoples Relationships», organized by the Union of Indigenous Peoples «Soyuz», was attended by the Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Ms. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim.

Also today, representatives of the Northern Forum held meetings with Mr. Anurag Bisen ftom the Vivekananda International Foundation (India), Ms. Zerin Osho, Director of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (India) and her colleagues to promote cooperation between the Northern Forum and India at the regional level.

It was mutually decided to prepare an agreement with both the Foundation and the Institute and to consider the organization of The Northern Forum-India Business and Scientific Forum, as well as to consider the possibility of convergence in dates for a major conference on geopolitics and geo-economics in New Delhi on March 17-19. This period is convenient in that Arctic Council representatives can participate in the forum before the Norwegian Chairmanship concludes. The Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council, Morten Höglund, endorsed the intention of organizing an event in India and asked that they be kept informed.

On November 11-22, the Northern Forum is hosting the first-of-its-kind Arctic Pavilion at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. The general partner of the Arctic Pavilion is the Melnichenko Foundation, the youth partner is the BRICS Youth Energy Agency. More info: https://arcticpavilion-cop.org

Watch live-streaming of all sessions on the Northern Forum Youtube channel.