115. Indigenous people, climate change and sustainability transition
Emmanuel Ejim-Eze, Centre of Engineering, technology and innovation Management; Ogbonna Okpuru, National center for Technology Managemen;
Indigenous people (IP) worldwide are more vulnerable to impacts of environmental degradation, Climate change, mal-adaptation &mitigation measures excluding them. Unfortunately IP contribute less to greenhouse emissions. Climate change risks faced by IP are due to continued dependence and close relationship with the environment and its resources. Climate change exacerbates difficulties already faced by IP including political & economic exclusion, loss of homeland and resources, human rights violations, displacement and unemployment. Examples are seen in massive logging of wood and forest deforestation as in the case of southern Nigeria and Amazon forest in Brazil, then intensive grazing by intruding Fulani herdsmen devastating IP farmlands/communities in West African.
As the world looks for sustainability transition to manage Climate change risks, IP should no longer be sacrificed by extractivism that created the climate crisis in the first place. A Just transition would place IP at the forefront to ensure that future system does not reproduce current imbalances and inequities . Moreover, IP have the knowledge and practices needed for the global community to implement and scale-up climate action. Through generations of close interactions with the environment, IP safeguarded an estimated 80% of the world's remaining biodiversity. Countries therefore cannot design and implement sustainability transitions and related policies without engaging IP in co-creation and implementation of such policies.
This panel is seeking contributions on indigenous knowledge and practices for global implementation and scale up of climate actions, just transitions for IP, inclusive policies for sustainability transition and other contributions that address issues raised
