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Land use, climate change adaptation and indigenous peoples

by Kirsty Galloway McLean

For indigenous peoples, resilience is rooted in traditional knowledge, as their capacity to adapt to environmental change is based first and foremost on in-depth understanding of the land. As climate change increasingly impacts indigenous landscapes, communities are responding and adapting in unique ways.

In a recent statement to the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) stated:

“…[W]e reiterate the need for recognition of our traditional knowledge, which we have sustainably used and practiced for generations; and the need to integrate such knowledge in global, national and sub-national efforts. This knowledge is our vital contribution to climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

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The Law of Adaptation to Climate Change: United States and International Aspects

The laws that attempt to reduce climate change are well known. But what about laws to deal with the climate change that will occur regardless of these efforts? The Law of Adaptation to Climate Change takes a sweeping look at the current and proposed legal aspects of coping with climate change--from drought, extreme precipitation, heat waves, and wild fires to global shifts in temperature, sea level, water and food supply, coastal conditions, infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health and economies. Applicable laws exist at all levels (international, national, state, local) and in different forms (constitutions, statutes, agency regulations, judicial decisions, private agreements, voluntary guidelines); they are not only uncoordinated but collectively embody numerous contradictions and inevitable gaps. 

This state-of-the-art compendium examines how laws are being modified, finessed, or imagined to deal with the impacts of climate change, both in the United States and around the globe. Chapter authors have significant experience in the legal aspects of climate change and are drawn from private practice, government, and academia. When it is not known how the law will, or even should, respond, these authorities suggest informed possibilities for future action.

How can we change and adapt our homes to cope with climate change? What actions can neighbourhoods take to mitigate problems caused by increased heat stress and reduced comfort during hot spells, restrictions on water use, reduced air quality, and stress and costs associated with flooding and storm damage? What are the best adaptations we can make to our homes? Should we all install solar panels and grow our own vegetables? What wider infrastructures need to be introduced to prevent flooding prevalent in many areas of the UK? And how do we communicate what changes are best suited to different styles of home and different region in the UK?

"This research is significant because many suburbs are not even coping with today's climate, let alone the changes that are now inevitable in the next 50 years and beyond. We have highlighted problems with overheating in homes, flood damage, deterioration of green spaces and so on. The Government is undertaking a lot of work on climate adaptation right now, and we are working with several government departments, including the Department for Communities and Local Government, to ensure that our findings feed into national programmes to help householders and local organisations cope with climate change." The full project report will be available on the SNACC web pages from 23 October. www.snacc-research.org/

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-10-suburbia-climate.html#jCp

For indigenous peoples, resilience is rooted in traditional knowledge, as their capacity to adapt to environmental change is based first and foremost on in-depth understanding of the land. As climate change increasingly impacts indigenous landscapes, communities are responding and adapting in unique ways.