Overview

As indigenous peoples around the world face extreme climatic events that threaten their livelihoods and well-being, responses that stem from indigenous knowledge, experiences, wisdom and world views are urgently needed. The Indigenous Peoples’ Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative (IPCCA) has emerged as an innovative response, bringing together indigenous knowledge and science in a process which links biocultural realities with complex global processes. Use of biocultural methods and tools involve communities from around the world in the assessment of climate change and local well-being and the development of evidence-based responses for climate change adaptation. We believe that indigenous adaptation processes must continue nurturing biocultural diversity in order to build resilience and better respond and adapt to the changes we face. Under IPCCA, Twelve indigenous-led biocultural assessments are empowering indigenous peoples to develop and use indigenous frameworks to assess the impacts of climate change on their communities and ecosystems. The assessments are taking place in a variety of fragile ecosystems such as the Arctic and tropical rain forests, using emancipatory methodologies which combine science and traditional knowledge through inter-cultural dialogue.