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How Indigenous Peoples Enrich Climate Action

Indigenous peoples have the knowledge and practices needed for the global community to implement and scale-up climate action. Together, the global community has an opportunity to reorient the way it interacts with nature and build resilience for all through collaborating with and learning from indigenous peoples, the stewards of nature.

“Indigenous communities are actively engaged in managing and caring for our communities. This sustainable management of biodiversity will be passed on to our young people, who will be doing this for a very long time,” said Dr. Victoria Qutuuq Buschman, an Inuit knowledge holder from the Arctic, when speaking about the importance of engaging indigenous experts in climate policies and actions.

The significance and potential of indigenous practices have also been strongly recognized by the scientific community as key approaches to developing and implementing countries’ national climate action plans (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) under the Paris Agreement.

“Indigenous Peoples have been faced with adaptation challenges for centuries and have developed strategies for resilience in changing environments that can enrich and strengthen current and future adaptation efforts.” – IPCC AR6

 

Background 

Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform

Indigenous peoples and local communities gained greater international recognition under the umbrella of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with the establishment of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) in 2015 at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

The LCIPP helps amplify their voices and facilitates their effective participation in the United Nations climate process. Work under the LCIPP has already contributed to the collection of insights and experiences relevant to both mitigation and adaptation.

The dedicated LCIPP web portal offers ways for governments, indigenous peoples, local communities and other relevant stakeholders to exchange experiences and good practices for addressing climate change in a holistic way. It builds capacity for engagement and brings together diverse knowledge systems to help inform the design and implementation of climate policies and actions.

Visit the LCIPP web portal here for more information and get involved in the LCIPP activities by participating in eventscontributing resources and responding to call for submissions.

 

Upcoming regional gatherings

Two regional gatherings in the context of the LCIPP work will take place in the next couple of months. They will bring together indigenous peoples, local communities, representatives of governments and other relevant stakeholders to identify climate impacts and exchange good practices to address climate change and build resilience.

The first, representing the Americas and Caribbean regions, will be held in Panama from 12 to 15 September. The second, for the Africa and Asia regions, will take place in Chad from 13 to 16 October.

More information will be made available here.

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