TK & Climate Change

This thematic area explores key areas relating to traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous peoples and climate change.

The impacts of climate change on indigenous communities are significant. The cultures that support TK around the world are often living in marginal ecosystems, such as the Artic, mountains, deserts and small islands. These marginal ecosystems are often the sources of key ecosystem services (e.g., role of mountain ranges in sustaining water balance) and are critical for maintaining the overall resilience and adaptive capacity of social-ecological systems are most vulnerable to climate change and will suffer the greatest change often for the worse as a result of climate change. Importantly, the TK of indigenous peoples is proving critically valuable service to the global community. Observations of ecosystem change by indigenous peoples are acting as a sentinel like warning system for climate change. More importantly, the long-term place-based adaptation approaches developed by indigenous peoples provide valuable examples for the global community of low-carbon sustainable lifestyle, critical to developing local adaptations strategies in the face of climate instability.

For further information see:

		TKI Climate Change Activities Access TKI books (including the Advance Guard: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, Mitigation and Indigenous Peoples - A Compendium of Case Studies), guides, white papers, case studies, and other research summaries. Also includes outcomes from meetings such as the Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change, and the Global Strategy on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).
		Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change Watch a series of videos about the effects of climate change on indigenous communities living in various ecosystems around the world.
		Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change in International Processes Review how several international processes have acknowledged the need for further awareness and understanding of the relationship between indigenous peoples and climate change.
		Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Assessment A collaborative initiative to empower indigenous peoples to develop and use indigenous frameworks to assess the impact of climate change on their communities and ecosystems and to develop and implement strategies for building indigenous resilience and adaptive strategies.