Indigenous People gather in Anchorage, Alaska to talk about climate change

Today is the Final Day of the Indigenous People’s Summit on Climate Change in Anchorage, Alaska.            
All week, Indigenous People from around the World have been sharing their experiences and debating solutions to climate change.
The Summit aims to produce a document to bring to a United Nations Climate Change Conference this winter.
Over the course of the week, Summit participants have broken into groups to discuss different aspects of climate change.
 Each group has recommended language for the final document.
Regional caucuses have made their recommendations.
Groups have also made recommendations focusing on energy, food sovreignity, traditional knowledge, and natural resources.
Rapporteurs from those groups put together a draft declaration, and today its been opened to the indigenous people at the conference for debate.
Jihan Gearon has been the rapporteur for the Youth Caucus this week.
She is Dine and came to the Summit from the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.
She is a Native Energy Organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network.
   

Gearon says that the Youth Caucus has taken a hard line on adressing the root causes of climate change. It is going to release its own declaration at the end of the summit.
The debate continued too late for KBOO to cover the final decision.
The final Document will go to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December.