Traditional Knowledge & Climate Science

Indigenous peoples’ resilience is rooted in traditional knowledge and their deep understanding of the land.For indigenous peoples, resilience is rooted in traditional knowledge, as their capacity to adapt to environmental change is based first and foremost on in-depth understanding of the land. As climate change increasingly impacts indigenous landscapes, communities are responding and adapting in unique ways. United Nations University (2012) 

Can REDD forests ever become green? Social and other safeguards are needed if REDD initiatives are to cut GHG emissions while doing no harm and benefiting indigenous peoples. Deforestation, especially of tropical forests, makes up 18 percent of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — more emissions than the entire global transportation sector. REDD initiatives aim to reduce GHG emissions by assigning forests a monetary value based on their capacity to absorb and store atmospheric carbon. REDD+ initiatives attempt to incorporate additional sources of forest value, such as ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, and local livelihoods. Both REDD and REDD+ approaches feed into carbon markets that are supposed to generate significant financial flows from companies with high degrees of GHG emissions in developed countries toward less polluting, carbon-neutral or carbon-negative activities in developing countries. United Nations University (2012) 

Energy innovation and traditional knowledge: Renewables-based energy sovereignty can revitalize indigenous communities while mitigating climate change impacts. The growing awareness of the reality of climate change and its accompanying impacts and risks is causing many to rethink current energy policies and to reconsider the reliance on conventional energy sources that have contributed to creating the global climate crisis. Although many countries are looking toward low-carbon technologies and clean, renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuels are still our primary energy source, as illustrated in BP’s 2012 Statistical Review of World Energy. United Nations Univeristy (2012)   

Tradtional Knowlege & Climate Science Toolkit Indigenous communities have long, multi-generational histories of interaction with the environment that include coping with variability, uncertainty and change. However, climate-induced impacts on their territories and communities are anticipated to be both early and severe due to their location in vulnerable habitats, including small islands, high altitude zones, desert margins and the circumpolar Arctic. Climate change poses a direct threat to many indigenous societies due to their continuing reliance upon resource-based livelihoods. At the same time, resilience in the face of a changing environment is embedded in indigenous knowledge and know-how, diversified resources and livelihoods, social institutions and networks, and cultural values and attitudes. Attentiveness to environmental variability, shifts and trends is an integral part of indigenous ways of life. Community-based and local knowledge may offer valuable insights on climate-induced changes, and complement broader-scale scientific research with local precision and nuance. Indigenous societies have elaborated coping strategies to deal with unstable environments, and in some cases, are already actively adapting to early climate change impacts. While the transformations due to climate change are expected to be unprecedented, indigenous knowledge and coping strategies provide a crucial foundation for community-based adaptation measures. This toolkit provides access to articles and various other resources that will assist indigenous peoples, local communities, policymakers and other stakeholders in accessing research on climate change adaptation and mitigation.