Recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the context of the climate crisis, biodiversity governance & territorial integrity: focusing on nomadic & semi-nomadic peoples, including pastoralists & shifting cultivators | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

Every year, the Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch within the Division for Inclusive Social Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs organizes an international expert group meeting (EGM) on a theme recommended by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and endorse by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

In its twenty-fourth session in 2025, the Permanent Forum recommended the theme of the EGM: “Recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the context of the climate crisis, biodiversity governance and territorial integrity: focusing on nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, including pastoralists and shifting cultivators”.

The EGM will be held virtually online 1-3 December 2025.

Participation

Accredited Indigenous Peoples Organizations, Member States, United Nations agencies, programmes and funds, non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC status and academia are invited to participate.

Registration

Registration has closed.

Working languages

Interpretation between English, Spanish and French will be available.

Documents

Concept note: English | Spanish

Programme of work: English | Spanish

Objectives of the Expert Group Meeting

The overall objective of the Expert Group Meeting is to:

Examine the structural barriers to legal recognition and access to rights for Indigenous Peoples, including mobile Indigenous Peoples.
Analyze the impact of climate change, conservation policies, and extractive industries on Indigenous Peoples' territories and livelihoods.
Explore the participation of Indigenous Peoples, especially mobile peoples, in international climate and biodiversity governance.
Explore the implications of Article 46 of UNDRIP and the principle of territorial integrity in relation to Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination, including mobile Indigenous Peoples.
Develop actionable recommendations to strengthen the protection of Indigenous Peoples, with particular attention to the mobility and territorial needs of nomadic and semi-nomadic Peoples.

The final report and recommendations of the EGM will be submitted to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at its twenty-fifth session in 2026.

Themes for discussion

Day 1: Monday, 1 December 2025 | 09:00 - 11:30am (EST)

Theme 1: Territorial integrity, statelessness and the right to self-determination: Examining the use of Article 46 of UNDRIP by States to limit Indigenous Peoples’ autonomy and rights and exploring holistic interpretations grounded in international law.

How does the recognition and support of the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples contribute to the protection of lands and territories, traditional knowledge, and cultural continuity, reinforcing coexistence with the State rather than conflicting with it?
How can Indigenous Peoples exercise their right to self-determination within the framework of national constitutions and laws?
What legal, administrative, and participatory mechanisms should States establish to ensure Indigenous Peoples can exercise self-determination over their lands, territories and resources, and cultural practices while respecting national laws?
How can UN entities, academia and others, support States in recognizing and protecting the self-determination, mobility, and seasonal land-use of mobile Indigenous Peoples, while maintaining national integrity?

Day 2: Tuesday 2 December 2025 | 9:00 -11:30am (EST)

Theme 2: Climate Change, Biodiversity Governance, and the Displacement of Indigenous Peoples: Ensuring the full, effective and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples in governance and policy frameworks, conservation and climate mitigation projects.

How can the international community safeguard the distinct status of Indigenous Peoples in global negotiations, preventing the conflation of “Indigenous Peoples and local communities” that some States use to weaken or sidestep Indigenous Peoples’ rights and free, prior and informed consent?
What legal and policy reforms—at national, regional, and UN levels—are needed to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples facing climate-driven displacement, ensuring their participation in the design of relocation, adaptation, and mitigation strategies?
How can global climate and biodiversity frameworks recognize and protect the mobility, cross-border movements, and seasonal land use of mobile Indigenous Peoples, while guaranteeing their direct participation in negotiations that affect their territories and livelihoods?

Day 3: Wednesday 3 December 2025 | 8:00 – 10:30am (EST)

Theme 3: Challenges and transformations of mobile Indigenous Peoples’ lifeways: Exploring the challenges faced and adaptations made by mobile Indigenous Peoples in the context of climate crisis, economic pressures, and evolving aspirations, and their implications for livelihoods, ecological stewardship and cultural continuity.

What are the most pressing challenges currently faced by mobile Indigenous Peoples in sustaining their traditional lifeways?
How is climate change currently affecting mobility, seasonal migration, and traditional livelihoods? How are mobile Indigenous Peoples adapting to these changes?
How are new economic pressures, education, and shifting aspirations among younger generations influencing traditional practices? What strategies are mobile Indigenous Peoples adopting to balance tradition with these changing contexts?
What opportunities are emerging from new technologies, partnerships, or evolving conditions that could support the continuity or transformation of mobile Indigenous lifeways?
What lessons can be drawn from these adaptative strategies to inform policy, conservation, and climate adaptation efforts?
What support do mobile Indigenous Peoples need to sustain their practices and adapt successfully?
How can governance frameworks better incorporate the perspectives and needs of mobile Indigenous Peoples in addressing climate and economic pressures?

Papers submitted by experts

The views expressed in these papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations.

Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine | Reconnaissance des droits des Peuples Autochtones dans le contexte de la crise climatique, de la gouvernance de la biodiversité et de l’intégrité territoriale : contributions tirées des expériences du Peuple Kel Tamasheq-Touareg | FR
Ahmad Beiranvand | Transformations of Nomadic Indigenous Lifeways in Iran, in a Changing Climate | EN
Adzmin Fatta | Building Indigenous Youth Leadership in Marine Conservation: Strengthening Socio-Ecological Resilience in Semporna | EN
Malih Ole Kaunga | Securing the Rights of Mobile Indigenous Peoples in Global Climate and Biodiversity Governance | EN
Eirik Larsen | Safeguarding the Distinct Status, Territorial Rights and Mobility of Indigenous Peoples in the Context of Climate Change and Biodiversity Governance | EN
Fawn Sharp | Indigenous Peoples and the Climate Crisis: Advancing Rights-Based Climate Action Through an Indigenous-Led Global Finance Platform and Exchange | EN

Experts

	Dr. Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, a Tuareg physician from Timbuktu, Mali, is a global advocate for Indigenous Peoples. She works to document and protect Indigenous knowledge systems related to biodiversity, health, and community well-being, particularly among nomadic communities. A former Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, she leads the Association Tinhinan, co-leads the Ărramăt and the Confronting Green Colonialism Project, advises Land is Life, Inter Pares, and CINE (McGill University), and teaches Indigenous legal orders, health, and international law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa and Simon Fraser University.
	Dr Albert K. Barume has over 25 years of experience working on Indigenous Peoples’ rights at national, regional and international levels. A national of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dr. Barume was among the first lawyers to work on Indigenous Peoples' rights in the 1990s in Africa. He was a Chairperson and Member of EMRIP, Senior Specialist on the rights of Indigenous Peoples at ILO, Independent Expert on the rights of Indigenous Peoples at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. Dr Barume led a team of African experts who provided support to African diplomats in New York during the process of adoption of the UNDRIP in 2007. Dr Barume holds a Ph.D. in International Human Rights Law with a focus on Indigenous Peoples’ rights from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom, and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies of Yale University in the United States of America. He has taught Indigenous Peoples’ rights in several universities across the World and has published numerous books and articles on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
	Ahmad Beiranvand, member of CENESTA, was born in 1985 in a nomadic pastoralist tribe in southwestern Iran (Lor and Lak tribal confederacies). He began his education in mobile nomadic schools and eventually earned a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Policy from the University of Tehran. His doctoral dissertation focused on analyzing national and international forest policies and the perspectives of local communities. Throughout his professional career, He has primarily worked with NGOs, particularly with Cenesta. In this organization, he served various roles and responsibilities, including natural resources expert, project manager, and CEO, participating in diverse projects related to livelihoods, governance, poverty reduction, and participatory management of natural resources, such as forests, rangelands, and water, as well as re-empowerment and capacity building.
	Adzmin Fatta, 32 years old, is an Indigenous person from the Suluk and Bajau tribes who hails from Semporna and is a community enabler working as a Programme Manager for Reef Check Malaysia, currently managing community-based projects in Semporna. He has been working for more than 9 years at RCM, during which he spent six years setting up successful community projects on Mantanani Island encompassing waste management, community-based eco-tourism, and marine resource management. In Semporna, Adzmin is currently working with indigenous and local communities from four island communities to build marine conservation leaders. To date, he has empowered more than 60 youth and established four Community Marine Conservation Groups (CMCGs) that focus on managing restoration and conducting marine conservation activities. Apart from that, Adzmin is also the co-founder of Green Semporna, a local youth organization that has been working for more than 12 years to empower local communities in marine conservation.
	José María Gualinga Montalvo, (Kichwa-Sarayaku), is a charismatic leader of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku. He served as Tayak Apu (President) of his community from 2011 to 2014. He is a member of the Political Advisory Team of the Sarayaku Governing Council and currently coordinates the Strengthening Plan for the Kawsak Sacha – Living Forest Declaration. In the 1990s, José represented the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza (OPIP) in Europe, advancing its political advocacy efforts. He is the author of the Sisa Ñampi Plan (Path of Flowers or Frontier of Life) and co-editor of documentaries such as Sangre Negra and El Canto de la Flor. He also contributed to the creation of the Kindy Challwa (Canoe of Life), which is currently housed at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, France. José is the author and mentor of the Kawsak Sacha – Living Forest Declaration proposal, which was approved by the People of Sarayaku in 2004, presented globally in 2015 at the UNFCCC COP21 in Paris, and publicly proclaimed in 2018 in Quito. He is also an important member of the ICCA Consortium in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
	Malih Ole Kaunga is the Founder and Director of IMPACT Kenya and a leading indigenous peoples’ rights activist. With over two decades of experience in advocacy, policy analysis, programme management, and community mobilization, he has advanced social justice, land rights, and cultural heritage for pastoralist communities across Africa. A seasoned international advocate, Malih has represented indigenous voices at the UN, ILO, CBD, and WIPO, while consulting for UNESCO and other global institutions. He is also a prolific writer, researcher, and public speaker, committed to ensuring indigenous peoples’ rights, knowledge, and aspirations are central to development and conservation initiatives.
	Erjen Khamaganova, a founding member of the World Union of Indigenous Spiritual Practitioners (WUISP), is an Elder of the Buryat-Mongolian Khongoodor and Sagaan clans and an internationally recognized specialist in biological and cultural diversity. Born near Lake Baikal in Siberia and raised in a traditional yurt in Mongolia, she has firsthand experience of the challenges and transformations faced by mobile Indigenous Peoples’ lifeways amid environmental, social, and political change. Now an independent consultant, she works to integrate Indigenous knowledge and spiritual values into environmental conservation and advocates for Indigenous guardianship as vital to addressing global climate and ecological crises.
	Eirik Larsen is an Indigenous Sámi lawyer and Head of the Human Rights Unit at the Saami Council. He also holds a position at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences. Larsen holds a master’s degree in law from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, with a thesis on Constitutional Law and Sámi and Indigenous Peoples Law. He is a former Member of the Sámi Parliament in Norway and has advised the two most recent presidents of the Parliament, as well as the Norwegian government, on Sámi and Indigenous issues. His expertise centers on the interaction between state authorities and Indigenous Peoples.
	Elisa Morgera is a Professor of International Law and Sustainability at Durham University (UK) and Professor in International and EU Environmental Law at the University of Eastern Finland. Previously, she worked with the United Nations FAO and UNDP; and continued to collaborate with the United Nations and other international organizations as consultant and independent expert. She has advised governments and civil society across the world. Ms. Morgera has published extensively on human rights and the environment, as well as on the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. She has published on business responsibility to respect human rights, international principle and standards of equity among and within States. From 2019 to 2024, Ms Morgera directed the One Ocean Hub, a Global North/South research collaboration on human rights and the ocean. Ms. Morgera holds a Law degree from the University of Trieste, Italy; a Master of Laws in Environmental Law from University College London; a Master of Research and a PhD in International Law from the European University Institute, Italy.
	Chief Vyacheslav Shadrin is the Chief of the Yukaghir Council of Elders, of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in Russia. Chief Shadrin is one of the leaders of the Indigenous Peoples of Yakutia, does a lot of work to protect the rights of the Indigenous Peoples in Russia. He is competent in the field of biodiversity protection and climate change adaptation. He is a well-known specialist in the protection of the traditional nature management of Indigenous Peoples, is an expert in ethnological expertise and the preservation of traditional knowledge. Chief Shadrin has been instrumental in supporting Yukaghir’s land and language issues and, since the new millennium, has been constantly on the move to promote the larger movement of Indigenous Peoples, including Even, Evenk, Chukchi, Dolgan and Yukaghir peoples across the region in Yakutia, Chukotka, Magadan and Khabarovsk, among other areas. Chief Shadrin is also a research fellow at the Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, Siberian Division of Russian Academy of Sciences. He is an expert in Indigenous rights, ethnology, climate change, traditional land-use, language and culture.
	Fawn R. Sharp is a prominent Indigenous leader, attorney, and former President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the oldest and largest tribal government organization in the United States. She served six terms in elected office for the Quinault Indian Nation and two terms as President of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. Throughout her career, she has championed tribal sovereignty, territorial integrity, statelessness issues, and the right to self-determination. Ms. Sharp has held key leadership roles in law and governance, including Quinault Tribal Court Associate Judge, administrative law judge for Washington State, and co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Indigenous Steering Committee for the Indigenous Knowledge and Leadership Network.

Contact Information

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Inclusive Social Development Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch, @email

Photo credit: Lenorlux | Canva