Indigenous Peoples have the knowledge and practices to support climate resilience

Indigenous communities in the Arctic have something to say about climate change—namely, that with the proper support in policy- and decision-making, they are resilient. Many Indigenous hunters, fishers, herders, harvesters and other knowledge holders have provided countless records of climate change’s disruption to the stability of snow, ice, water, ecosystem dynamics and wildlife populations. Now, VICTORIA QUTUUQ BUSCHMAN explains, the world is beginning to recognize that Indigenous communities have considerable strength and adaptive capacity to provide solutions to the impacts of climate change.

On February 28, 2022, the global community received the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the impacts, adaptation and vulnerabilities of ecosystems, biodiversity and people amid climate change. In part, the report explains what’s at stake and how we’re attempting to address these issues.

But this isn’t the first report to make a strong call for the support of Indigenous communities and practices. The 2019 IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land recognized that Indigenous communities actively safeguard the biodiversity within their homelands. The 2022 report reiterates what Arctic Indigenous communities have always known: that we have the knowledge and practices to identify impacts, evaluate risks and adapt to climatic changes as long as we prioritize self-determination, Indigenous rights and inclusive governance.

Recognizing the legacy of colonialism

Indigenous authors—including Dr. Tero Mustonen, head of Snowchange Cooperative in Finland, and Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council—led a body of experts across the circumpolar North in developing the report’s assessment of the impacts of climate change on Indigenous Peoples and the implications for adaptation and governance in the Arctic. The report recognizes that the legacy of colonialism is behind Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ climate vulnerability. Land dispossession and displacement, the introduction and proliferation of carbon-intensive economies, discrimination, racism, marginalization, and social, cultural and health inequities all limit Indigenous Peoples’ abilities to respond to impacts effectively.

These impacts include human health risks and injuries related to unpredictable and unsafe environmental conditions on land, water and ice. They also include food insecurity and the instability of harvested food sources, which are affected by changes in seasons and preparation conditions as well as shifts in the sizes and structures of populations.

In addition, waterborne diseases have emerged, and pathogens such as anthrax and smallpox have the potential to resurface in buried carcasses as permafrost thaws. Additional impacts include mental health problems related to climate change and heightened by colonial contexts, the stress of livelihoods and culture continually upended by climate impacts, and the inflexibility of policies and laws that were not designed to accommodate rapid environmental change.

Resilience linked to self-determination

Despite these challenges, Indigenous communities display inherent climate resilience—a quality that is important for adapting to climate change. There is growing recognition that this resilience is linked to Indigenous self-determination. The IPCC calls for equity by recognizing that Indigenous communities’ ability to adapt to climate change is linked to this self-determination in adaptation strategies, governance and ecosystem-based policies. It also acknowledges that developing local definitions of social and economic success and culturally legitimate government and leadership is a significant part of this process.

Recognizing Indigenous knowledge as a valuable and valid way of knowing is another. The document calls for the use of Indigenous knowledge in planning, decision-making and management processes, and in implementing adaptation.

The Arctic provides ecosystem services for Indigenous communities. In turn, Indigenous knowledge can detect change, evaluate risk and inform adaptation. It also provides cultural ecological services. Despite barriers to the use of knowledge in institutions and international fora—and within research, management and implementation processes—Indigenous knowledge-based solutions and inclusive ecosystem-based policies have shown the ability to address climate change impacts. To continue to do so moving forward, we need to create or improve decision-making processes and adaptive management in human health, Arctic shipping, tourism, reindeer herding, commercial fisheries, marine and terrestrial subsistence, and other areas of Indigenous concerns.

Indigenous communities display inherent climate resilience—a quality that is important for adapting to climate change. There is growing recognition that this resilience is linked to Indigenous self-determination.

New tools needed

This shift may require new research, management, monitoring, assessment, policy and governance structures that are equipped to address the needs of Arctic Indigenous Peoples.

For example, research and climate modelling that focus on Indigenous objectives are useful to communities planning to tackle issues such as shoreline erosion, permafrost thaw, flooding, and changing wildlife populations and food web dynamics. Developing green technologies in partnership with Indigenous Peoples can ensure that green energy does not continue as a colonial, externally imposed and inequitable burden placed on those already impacted and marginalized amid climate change. Removing the external pressures that limit autonomous evaluation, self-assessment and the response to climate change—such as the often inflexible and centralized policies imposed by state governments—can also support community-led adaptation.

In the absence of national and international adaptation strategies in the Arctic, Indigenous communities are moving forward with adaptations at smaller scales. These contributions may seem small, but they are being seen and heard around the world. Supporting Indigenous communities’ ability to make the necessary decisions and changes will ensure a more resilient, secure and equitable future for Indigenous Peoples and a healthier planet for all.