Indigenous Peoples know the path towards a climate-resilient future

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognizes that Indigenous Peoples offer game-changing solutions in the race to net zero. Currently, agri-food systems account for about one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but Indigenous Peoples offer insight into how food systems can be productive, sustainable and nature positive.

In its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finds that human activity is responsible for warming the atmosphere, ocean and land. Climate change is exacerbating weather and climate extremes around the world, threatening the well-being of people and the planet as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, droughts and tropical cyclones become more frequent and severe. Reducing CO₂ emissions is the only way forward and Indigenous Peoples know the path to a low-carbon future.

Through its partnership with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) – the world’s largest dedicated fund for climate action – FAO helps countries access climate finance for transformative projects that turn the tide on deforestation, promote sustainable agricultural development, and empower Indigenous Peoples as agents of change for climate action.

“As the guardians of 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples are at the forefront of efforts to conserve ecosystems, mitigate and adapt to climate change, but they are also amongst the most vulnerable to a changing climate” says Eduardo Mansur, Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment. “Climate investments are key to securing land tenure rights, as well as promoting inclusive and participatory decision-making for improved land governance and sustainable forest management.”

Empowering indigenous communities in the Amazon

Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon manage their territories and natural resources in ingenious ways, sustaining generations on the same lands and territories with their unique social fabric, political structure, and economic systems. According to FAO, indigenous territories with recognized collective legal titles to lands containabout one-third of all the carbon stored in the forests of Latin America and the Caribbean.

FAO is scaling up investments in projects that give both climate action and indigenous communities a boost. For instance, FAO is working with the Government of Colombia on a GCF project – with $28.2 million in financing – to increase Indigenous Peoples' participation and leadership in the country’s sustainable forest management activities. Indigenous communities will be actively involved in the management of 60,000 hectares of forest, and the project will benefit indigenous populations in six departments of the Amazon Region: Amazonas, Caquetá, Putumayo, Guaviare, Guainía and Vaupes.

Funds for the project fall under the pilot GCF REDD+ results-based payments scheme in recognition of Colombia’s successful efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions and combat deforestation in the Amazon biome during the 2015–2016 time period.

Protecting native forests with Indigenous Peoples

In Chile, indigenous communities play a central role in efforts to restore and conserve about 25,000 hectares of native forest in five regions of the country. Despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, activities for an FAO-led GCF project have been underway since 2020, with $63 million in REDD+ results-based payments directed at sustainable forest management.

Indigenous Peoples account for almost 13 percent of the population in Chile; their knowledge, customs and way of life go hand in hand with reducing GHG emissions and protecting the country’s native forests, ecosystems, and biodiversity.

Integrating local knowledge for improved climate resilience

Did you know that about 70.5 percent of the world’s 476 million Indigenous Peoples live in Asia? Investments that empower indigenous communities can strengthen sustainable natural resource management and build resilience to climate change. For example, FAO and the Government of Nepal are working on a GCF project – with $47.3 million in financing – to support Indigenous Peoples in the Churia Region who depend on the area’s 26 vulnerable river systems for their livelihoods.

Indigenous Peoples have been actively engaged in the project to ensure that local knowledge is integrated into land and water management plans that will enhance the climate resilience of ecosystems and vulnerable communities in the Central and Eastern Churia-Terai Region.

Representing 31 percent of the project’s beneficiaries, Indigenous Peoples will strengthen their capacities to identify, assess and respond to resource degradation and climate risks.

Upholding Indigenous Peoples´ knowledge and values

Indigenous Peoples have a leading role to play as undeniable stakeholders in global efforts to reduce GHG emissions and achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

FAO is committed to upholding indigenous knowledge, cultures, values and practices, as countries set a course for a low-carbon future that fulfills the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leaves no one behind.