“Engaging with domestic politics is crucial to our collective response to global environmental change and other social justice issues.”
Reforming our understanding of environmental and climate governance includes reforming the way we look at the role of politics. The announcement by President Trump that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement reminded us of the importance of domestic politics in influencing the success of international environmental agreements. Yet, the effects of domestic politics on global and international efforts against environmental change are both deeper and more extensive. One prominent strand of policy responses to global environmental change relies on the rights of the indigenous and other resource-dependent peoples. Indigenous governance and stewardship of the planet’s land, waters, and forest resources presents a powerful alternative to the largely failed system of market-based environmentalism. However, the statutory recognition and successful realization of indigenous rights vary significantly across countries and continents but such variation has received surprisingly little attention in the scholarship on indigenous rights. To leverage the role of indigenous and other local actors, environmentalists and policymakers must understand how national political systems influence the effectiveness of grassroots efforts directed to the goals of nature conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Bigotry against indigenous people means we’re missing a trick on climate change. The Guardian (November 15, 2017)
A South American Indian protests over land rights in Brazil. Photograph: Fernando Bizerra Jr./EPA
Despite talks about protecting indigenous land rights, influential policies for nature conservation and climate change threaten indigenous livelihoods and endanger the global efforts to promote environmental stewardship. Crucial support in science and policy, which is currently lacking, will go a long way in building on indigenous knowledge about farming, fire management and other ways of conserving the landscape, without having to sacrifice the goals of human development.