There is no silver bullet for climate change – it will need collective action from all governments and stakeholders. But are we under-utilising our best experts?
As stewards of 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples are leaders in how to develop nature-based, resilient and effective solutions to climate change, through their knowledge and innovations, technologies, and spiritual values.
Whilst global warming is something that inevitably affects us all, Indigenous people are too often at the forefront of the impacts of climate change, with disproportionate effects on their livelihoods, wellbeing and their ability to survive.
Despite vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, we have seen time and time again that Indigenous people are leaders – from Indigenous fire management that encourages vegetation regrowth in increasingly drier countries to their incomparable efforts in the conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems around the world.
This is why the UK COP Presidency is working with Indigenous leaders during the UN’s Regional Climate Weeks to host a series of regional dialogues on Nature-based solutions. It is imperative that Indigenous voices are heard and help shape climate outcomes.
Indigenous Peoples as forest protectors
Forests and climate change are closely linked. Humans have been creating staggering amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) for decades, and this trend has only increased in recent years. Trees capture GHGs which prevent them from accumulating in the atmosphere and ultimately, cause global warming.
Clearing forests – deforestation – means that there are fewer trees to capture GHGs leading to further climate change. Deforestation on its own is estimated to cause about 10 percent of worldwide emissions. This is why our forests are so important to protect.
Researchers at the World Resources Institute (WRI) have established that forests managed by Indigenous Peoples often have lower deforestation rates than similar lands managed by others. They found that the average annual deforestation rates in Indigenous forests in Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia from 2000-2012 were two to three times lower than in similar forest areas not managed by indigenous peoples.
In 2018, an additional report also from the WRI showed that Indigenous Peoples and local communities worldwide manage massive amounts of carbon in the trees and soil of their forests—at least 293,061 million metric tons.
If all this carbon was released at once, it would equal 33 times the total global energy emissions of 2017.
To ensure that this carbon remains in the trees, we must ensure that Indigenous peoples continue to act as effective custodians of their forests.
Indigenous People in the Nature Campaign
The UK’s COP26 Presidency will be focused through five campaigns: Nature, Energy, Transport, Finance, and Adaptation & Resilience. The voices of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) have an indisputable and indispensable role to play throughout these campaign areas, not least of all in the Nature campaign.
The UK’s Nature campaign ultimately recognises the important role of nature in both adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change, and in supporting lives and livelihoods. The campaign focuses on two areas of long term global action: (1) global action on forests and critical ecosystems, and (2) global reform of agriculture and sustainable land use. We know and embrace IPLCs deep relationship with nature, and recognise their role in stewarding our most important ecosystems, and sharing their local knowledge and insights.
Indigenous People at COP26
In November 2021, the UK will host COP26, the largest international summit the UK has ever held. In all our COP26 work, we are committed to championing the participation and meaningful engagement of Indigenous Peoples through COP26. We are working closely with the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) and the UNFCCC Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP).
We are incorporating Indigenous voices through regular engagement with a range of Indigenous Peoples representatives.
In the upcoming dialogues, we invite Indigenous Peoples to share their perspectives and views, and we invite policy makers across governments and NGOs to listen and learn from Indigenous leaders to better understand how to embed Indigenous knowledge in COP processes and climate change action. Only by working together can we find effective solutions on climate change.
This article was originally published on Linkedin.
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