CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION: WITH OR AGAINST INDIGENOUS PEOPLES?

Abstract

Climate change and its negative consequences represent a common problem for all the people on Earth and are likely to become one of the most serious challenges that humankind faces. As such, mitigation measures and adaptation actions are of particular importance. Although often thought as the two sides of the same coin, the climate change mitigation and adaptation differ from each other, especially in the context of indigenous peoples. Therefore, the first part of the paper centres on the relation between climate change mitigation and adaptation and their consequences for indigenous communities. The newest international treaty on climate change, the Paris Agreement, establishes the global goal on adaptation, which should take into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems, and more importantly, should be based on and guided by the best available science and knowledge of indigenous peoples, often referred to as ‘traditional knowledge’. As such, the second part of the paper focuses on the adaptation methods guided by the traditional knowledge. Although examples include indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge from all over the globe, much attention is given to the Arctic Indigenous Peoples as, due to current speed of climate change, the Arctic is recognized as a global climate change hotspot. Although indigenous peoples have been living in their territories since the time immemorial, adapting their ways of life to the difficult weather and environmental conditions, with the current climate change happening so rapidly, their possibilities of adaptation are weakening and climate change renders them more vulnerable, altering their economic and cultural activities and threatening their very existence. However, the current rate of climate change is not the only factor impairing the indigenous peoples’ adaptive capacities. Therefore, the final part of the paper is aimed at presenting what the obstacles to the successful adaptation to climate change are and whether migration should be considered an adaptive action.