Strengthening Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ Knowledge and Access Opens up Opportunities for Climate, Biodiversity and Desertification Action

By Michael Stanley-Jones
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada, Mar 25 2025 (IPS)

The central role Indigenous Peoples and local communities in addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification has gained widespread recognition over the past decade. Indigenous Peoples’ close dependence on resources and ecosystems, exceptional tradition, and ancestral knowledge are invaluable assets for the sustainable management of our planet’s natural resources.

The international community has highlighted prominently the importance of the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to achieving the goals of the ʻRio Conventions’ – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

In 2017, the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC emphasized the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in achieving the targets and goals set out in the Convention, the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while recognizing their vulnerability to climate change. COP23 established the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform to promote the exchange of traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, as well as to strengthen their representatives’ engagement in the UNFCCC process.

UNCCD followed in 2020, launching an Indigenous Peoples’ dialog on climate change, biodiversity and desertification. Canada, in coordination with 16 U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Member States, launched in 2020 the Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples in Rome, chaired by Ambassador Alexandra Bugailiskis, who currently serves as Chair of the UNU-INWEH International Advisory Committee. Working at the intersection of the Rio Conventions, UNU-INWEH especially addresses the theme of health and food security vis-a-vis Indigenous Peoples.

The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by the CBD in December 2022 sought to ensure traditional knowledge, innovations, practices and technologies of indigenous peoples and local communities are available and accessible to guide biodiversity action.

Not all has been clear skies and smooth sailing, however.

UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice reported in 2024 that there exists “a fundamental misalignment between the prevailing global approach to addressing climate change and the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities on the changing climate.”

The 476.6 million Indigenous Peoples, making up 6.2 per cent of the global population, represent “a rich diversity of cultures, traditions and ways of life based on a close relationship with nature” and should not be viewed as homogeneous groups.

Moreover, Indigenous Peoples and local communities are often perceived primarily as vulnerable, a focus which overshadows the rich knowledge systems, cultural values and practices of these communities. The report recommended shifting the narrative around Indigenous Peoples and local communities from vulnerability to nature stewardship and climate leadership.

The importance of emphasizing the positive contribution of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to achieving the goals of the Rio Conventions cannot be underestimated.

We should not lose sight of the ends which traditional, Indigenous and local knowledge and strengthened participation serve, namely, to foster stronger and more ambitious climate action by Indigenous Peoples that contributes to the ultimate achievement of the objectives of the Conventions.

Toward this end, in a landmark decision at CBD COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, in October-November 2024, Parties adopted a new Programme of Work on Article 8(j) and other provisions of the Convention related to indigenous peoples and local communities. This transformative programme sets out specific tasks to ensure the meaningful contribution of Indigenous Peoples towards achieving the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits.

The Climate Convention COP29 meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024 decided to extend the mandate of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. It further invited Parties to provide simultaneous interpretation into languages other than the official languages of the United Nations at meetings of its Facilitative Working Group and mandated events under the Platform, a step which greatly opens up opportunities for the community to engage in climate, biodiversity and desertification action.

The UNCCD COP16 followed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December 2024 by holding its first-ever Indigenous Peoples Forum, spotlighting the invaluable contributions of Indigenous Peoples to land conservation and sustainable resource management.

A more inclusive and participatory process engaging with Indigenous Peoples will serve to strengthen the Rio Conventions and enhance their chances of success. This is something worth championing in the challenging times the world is facing today.

Michael Stanley-Jones is an Environmental Policy and Governance Fellow at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and served in the UN Economic Commission for Europe and UN Environment Programme in Geneva and Nairobi from 2004 to 2022.

IPS UN Bureau