"All of humanity must work together to re-establish harmony and unity with the natural environment by implementing the Kyoto Protocol and creating a global governance system that respected and supported vegetable, mineral, animal, human and cosmic life", Nicolas Lucas Ticum, a Maya priest from Guatemala and a researcher on the Calendario Maya, told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, as it continued its eighth session.

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Governments must recognize the sustainable development that indigenous people have been promoting for centuries", Mr. Lucas Ticum said, adding that "The Earth does not belong to human beings. Human beings belong to the Earth."

The Kyoto Protocol followed the Maya tenet of balance with nature and all living beings as necessary for sustaining the well-being of the planet and current and future generations of mankind, he said. Global leaders planned to review the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, the same year as the thirteenth B'Aqtun of the Maya people -– a year which, according to Maya wisdom, would usher in a new era of respect for others, love, solidarity and brotherhood. But that transition would require a spiritual strength that humanity had so far wasted at its own peril.

He said that most Western countries had embraced dogmatic, egoistic approaches to commerce and trade that had gradually eroded the quality of life of most people, destroying the planet's biological, linguistic and cultural diversity, its ecosystems and genetic heritage. That line of thinking, which had caused climate change and mass-scale environmental degradation, must change. He called on the Commission on Sustainable Development to review and adapt concepts about the environment, natural resources, development and economics, including those based on the age-old experience of indigenous people. And he called on all people to care for the planet by building sustainable development alliances and strategies, and on the scientific and research community to "recognize the spiritual dimensions of human beings, the connection and interconnectedness of all the elements of the universe and scientific pluralism".

Echoing those concerns, Forum Chairperson Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, member from the Philippines, called for a human rights-based approach to development that integrated indigenous peoples' concerns and strategies into the design of responses to climate change. "We don't see the climate change crisis and the global economic crisis as separate things", she said, adding that they were caused by the same economic model of extensive market liberalization that disregarded such internationally agreed social goals as full employment and human rights protection. "The market is always right" was the thinking that had prevailed in economic policies of developed and developing countries alike, while labour rights were ignored and violated, and the power of transnational corporations, particularly in the extractive sector, was emboldened.

The economic crisis had also spurred spending for infrastructure development, with the World Bank increasing loans for infrastructure projects from $15 billion to $45 billion in 2009, she said. Planned road and hydro-electric dam construction projects on traditional lands -– particularly in the Philippines and India -- would displace indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent. Canada's plans to expand Highway 30 in Quebec would result in the appropriation of traditional lands, while the Can$ 16.2 billion Mackenzie Valley pipeline project would directly impact indigenous peoples. Those policies had deepened the poverty of indigenous communities, and subjected them to greater threats to land loss, destruction of their traditional livelihoods, economic and food insecurity, and decreased access to health care and other social services.

Jomo Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said the global financial crisis had created major challenges and serious social consequences. The International Labour Organization (ILO) expected the number of working poor to increase by 200 million, and those formally unemployed to rise by more than 50 million. Government social spending was at risk and there was growing unrest, as living standards and social protections declined, and extreme poverty rose. While everyone could work together to bring about sustainable solutions, cooperation was lacking. Indigenous peoples would face an uphill battle over protection of their natural resources, particularly water. Indigenous peoples were the custodians of land, water and a variety of other resources, but water was becoming a commodity, rather than an obligation of Governments, and indigenous people would find themselves under a lot of pressure.

Also speaking today were observers for Guatemala, Indonesia, Ecuador and Suriname.

China's delegate spoke in exercise of the right of reply.

Forum members from Morocco, Philippines, Australia, Iran, Sweden and Norway also spoke.

A representative of the Inter-American Development Bank also delivered a statement.

Representatives from the following organizations also spoke: Southeast Indigenous Peoples Centre, Comisión Jurídica para el Autodesarrollo de los Pueblos Originarios Andinos (CAPAJ), Center for Hawaiian Studies, Communidad Campesina de Tauria, Indigenous Land Corporation, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, Tribal Link Foundation, Centro de Cultura Pueblo Nación Mapuche Pelonxaru, National Indigenous Youth Movement of Australia, Native Women's Association of Canada, Yamasi People, Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre, Cordillera Peoples Alliance (also on behalf of the Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network and the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact), and Land Is Life (also on behalf of El Molo Forum, MAWEED, MPIDO, Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network).

Other organizations represented were: Parlamento Indígena de América, Onondaga Nation, Seventh Generation Fund, Caribbean Indigenous Caucus for the Greater Caribbean, Pacific Caucus, National Native Title Council, Francophone Caucus, Global Indigenous Women's Caucus, Federación de Asociaciones de Comunidades Guaranís de la Región Oriental de Paraguay, Amazigh Caucus, Commissao Nacional da Terra Guarani Yvy Rupa, Brazil, Indigenous World Association, Indigenous Network on Economics and Trade and the Native Women's Association of Canada, Asia Indigenous Peoples Caucus, Tebtebba Foundation, Friends of the Coquihalla (also on behalf of the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade), Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation, Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council, African Caucus, Pueblo Kichwa Salasaka, Unión Nacional de Traductores Indígenas, Autonomía Eraiki, Comunidad Integradora del Saber Andino Cisa, Movimiento Acción y Resistencia MAR, World Council of Churches, American Indian Law Alliance, and Land Is Life.

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 28 May, to continue its session.