Giitu, ja buorre beaivi didjiide buohkaide.

Mun lean Elle-Rávnná Eli Silje Karine. Thank you, and good morning!

My name is Silje Karine Muotka, and I am the President of the Sámi Parliament in Norway.

I hope you all are doing fine at COP 27 in Sharm el Sheikh.

I am the Artic region’s member in the steering committee for the Global Coalition on Indigenous Peoples' Food Systems. I have been given responsibility as the focal point for fisheries matters in the indigenous coalition, and the coordinator for research strategies and collaboration on knowledge systems.

It was a pleasure for me to join the first-ever global Coalition on Indigenous Peoples' food systems who was launched at FAO headquarters in Rome in October this year, resulting from the UN Food Systems Summit 2021.

There is no doubt that Climate change is affecting the food systems of Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic. Today we see that the newly published climate report concluded that warming in the Arctic goes almost four times as fast as on the rest of the globe. The Arctic is already on average around 3 degrees warmer than it was in the beginning of the 80s.

This dramatic warming affects and impacts the Sámi way of life, including our traditional livelihoods and food production, The fisheries in seawater, rivers and lakes, reindeer husbandry, small-scale farming, hunting, and gathering are under pressure by climate change.

We are facing challenges, but Indigenous Peoples have a lot to contribute when it comes to protecting food systems in the Arctic. We are caretakers of our lands, waters, and territories. We are producers of healthy, nutritious, environment- and climate-friendly food. We can share our knowledge on genuinely sustainable food systems.

We are also knowledge holders, and specialists in sustainable use of biodiversity. Our culture and communities are deeply connected to nature and resources. Due to this connection and dependence, we live our lives with respect and harmony for mother earth.

Our job is to protect the land that ties us to the past and our history. It is the natural landscape that furnishes the basis for our stewardship of resources and our grazing animals. The land, air, water, oceans, forests, sea ice, snow, plants, and animals are the source of indigenous peoples' values, and the land give us the identities that distinguish us as separate nations.

Indigenous Peoples are also rights holders. We have rights to these areas through our historical usage of our lands and waters. The protection of Indigenous lands, waters and territories also protect the Food systems. We are talking about our common future.

Indigenous Peoples’ food systems have high levels of self-sufficiency, we are talking about local food with short transportations routes, that gives a low carbon footprint.

This is what we are talking about. When the seven Member States and Indigenous Peoples from the seven socio-cultural regions of the world has agreed to join forces to respect, preserve and promote Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems as game-changers for the benefit of all of humanity. It is about our common future!

Ollu giitu. Thank you!