Indigenous/Native communities have for centuries created and applied approaches to climate change and developed their own climate sciences, which are often overlooked or treated as inferior to modern mainstream science. This lack of attention given to the critical contribution of Indigenous climate knowledge and spiritualities continues to promote a one-sided narrative.  

This webinar will continue a dialogue held in a webinar on 12 October 2023.  In that 2023 discussion, new perspectives were opened by examining climate change in the Pacific and giving examples of interfaith dialogue with Indigenous spiritualities promoting environmental justice. It highlighted how Indigenous and Native knowledge and spiritualities could assist in critically informing national and global climate strategies and climate policies, and looked into approaches Indigenous communities could offer to the COP28 meeting taking place soon after the webinar in November 2023.

This discussion will explore in more depth how Indigenous knowledge can be preserved and drawn upon in the face of climate change and other development pressures.  It takes place at the same time as the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States with their rich and diverse Indigenous cultures and islands that are uniquely and unfortunately positioned at the forefront of multiple global crises, notably climate change. The webinar will also prepare for the discussion of climate change at the G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20) 2024 Brazil in Brasilia, 19-22 August 2024.

The webinar is a cooperation between IF20 Environmental Working Group and the International Dialogue Centre – KAICIID.