In the face of accelerating climate change, policymakers and scientists are increasingly recognizing the value of Indigenous knowledge in developing effective climate strategies. This intersection of traditional wisdom and modern science represents a powerful approach to understanding and addressing environmental challenges. However, bridging these two knowledge systems is not without its complexities and challenges.
Understanding Indigenous Knowledge
Indigenous knowledge, also known as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), is a cumulative body of knowledge, practices, and beliefs about the relationship between living beings and their environment. This knowledge has been developed over millennia through direct contact with the natural world and passed down through generations.
Dr. Deborah McGregor, an Anishinaabe researcher and Associate Professor at York University, explains, “Indigenous knowledge is not just about understanding nature; it’s about understanding our place within it. It’s holistic, considering the interconnectedness of all things.”
The Strengths of Western Science
Western science, with its emphasis on empirical observation, measurement, and repeatability, has provided us with crucial insights into climate change. From tracking global temperature rises to modeling future climate scenarios, scientific research has been instrumental in identifying and quantifying the challenges we face.
The Power of Integration
Combining Indigenous knowledge with Western scientific approaches can lead to more comprehensive and effective climate policies. This integration brings several key benefits:
- Long-term Observational Data: Indigenous communities have been observing and adapting to environmental changes for thousands of years, providing valuable long-term data that can complement scientific records.
- Localized Knowledge: While Western science often focuses on broad patterns, Indigenous knowledge provides detailed, location-specific insights that are crucial for developing targeted adaptation strategies.
- Holistic Perspective: Indigenous worldviews often emphasize the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and cultural factors, encouraging more comprehensive policy approaches.
- Adaptive Management: Traditional practices often involve adaptive management techniques that can inform flexible, responsive climate policies.
Case Studies in Integration
The Arctic: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Science
In the rapidly changing Arctic, Inuit knowledge has proven invaluable in understanding and responding to climate impacts. The SmartICE program in Nunatsiavut, Labrador, exemplifies this integration.
Trevor Bell, the program’s founder, describes the approach: “SmartICE combines Inuit knowledge of sea ice with satellite data and in-situ sensors. This not only provides more accurate ice safety information but also validates and preserves traditional knowledge.”
Forest Management in British Columbia
In British Columbia, the integration of Indigenous fire management practices with modern forestry techniques is reshaping approaches to wildfire prevention and forest health.
Satnam Manhas, Forest Ecologist with the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department, shares, “By incorporating traditional burning practices into our forest management plans, we’re not just reducing wildfire risk; we’re also promoting biodiversity and forest resilience in ways that purely scientific approaches might miss.”
Challenges in Integration
While the benefits of integrating Indigenous knowledge and Western science are clear, significant challenges remain:
- Power Dynamics: Historical and ongoing colonial structures often privilege Western scientific knowledge over Indigenous wisdom.
- Different Worldviews: Indigenous and Western scientific worldviews can differ fundamentally, making integration complex.
- Intellectual Property Concerns: There are valid concerns about the appropriation and misuse of Indigenous knowledge.
- Methodology Differences: Western science’s emphasis on replicability and quantitative data can clash with the often qualitative, context-specific nature of Indigenous knowledge.
Overcoming Barriers: Towards True Collaboration
To address these challenges and foster genuine integration, several approaches are being developed:
Ethical Frameworks for Collaboration
(Image Credit: Getty Images, Licensed from Unsplash+)
Many institutions are developing ethical guidelines for working with Indigenous knowledge. The First Nations Information Governance Centre’s OCAP® principles (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) provide a framework for how Indigenous data should be collected, protected, used, or shared.
Co-development of Research
Increasingly, climate research projects are being co-developed with Indigenous communities from the outset. This ensures that Indigenous perspectives and priorities are centred in the research process.
Dr. Gleb Raygorodetsky, Executive Director of the Indigenous Knowledge, Climate Change and Biocultural Diversity initiative at the University of Victoria, emphasizes, “It’s not about Western researchers simply consulting Indigenous communities. It’s about true co-creation of knowledge, where Indigenous people are full partners in every stage of the research process.”
Policy Frameworks for Knowledge Integration
Some jurisdictions are developing policy frameworks that mandate the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in environmental decision-making. In Canada, the Impact Assessment Act of 2019 requires the consideration of Indigenous knowledge in federal impact assessments.
Indigenous Knowledge in International Climate Policy
The integration of Indigenous knowledge is gaining recognition at the international level. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has increasingly incorporated Indigenous knowledge in its assessment reports, acknowledging its value in understanding climate impacts and developing adaptation strategies.
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, notes, “Including Indigenous knowledge in global climate policies isn’t just about better environmental management. It’s about recognizing Indigenous peoples’ rights and their crucial role in protecting biodiversity and mitigating climate change.”
Education and Capacity Building
Bridging Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge systems also requires changes in education and training. Some universities are developing programs that teach both Indigenous and Western scientific approaches to environmental management.
The University of British Columbia’s Indigenous Land Stewardship program is one such example. Program director Janelle Kuntz explains, “We’re training the next generation of environmental managers to work effectively across knowledge systems, respecting and integrating both Indigenous and Western approaches.”
The Way Forward: Co-existence and Mutual Respect
True integration of Indigenous knowledge and Western science in climate policy requires more than just incorporating traditional practices into existing frameworks. It calls for a fundamental shift in how we view knowledge creation and environmental stewardship.
Elder Albert Marshall of the Mi’kmaq Nation articulated this through the concept of “Two-Eyed Seeing”: “We need to learn to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and then learn to use both of these eyes together.”
A Holistic Approach to Climate Change
As we face the unprecedented challenge of climate change, the integration of Indigenous knowledge and Western science offers a path towards more comprehensive, effective, and just climate policies. This approach not only enhances our understanding of environmental changes but also promotes more sustainable and equitable ways of relating to the natural world.
The journey of integrating these knowledge systems is ongoing, requiring patience, respect, and a willingness to challenge long-held assumptions. However, the potential rewards – in terms of more effective climate strategies, preservation of cultural wisdom, and a more holistic approach to environmental stewardship – are immense.
In the words of Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabe environmentalist and economist, “We don’t have time to argue about whose knowledge system is superior. We need all the wisdom we can get to face the climate crisis. It’s time to listen to the land and to those who have lived in harmony with it for millennia.”
As we move forward in our fight against climate change, this integration of knowledge systems offers not just hope for more effective policies but a model for how different ways of knowing can come together to address the greatest challenge of our time.
Blog by Rye Karonhiowanen Barberstock
(Header Image Credit: ThisIsEngineering, Licensed from Unsplash)
The post Bridging Two Worlds: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science in Climate Policy appeared first on Indigenous Climate Hub.
Bridging Two Worlds: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science in Climate Policy
Antarctic sea ice has recorded its third-smallest winter peak extent since satellite records began 48 years ago, new data reveals.
Provisional data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that Antarctic sea ice hit its annual winter peak on 14 September, with an extent of 17.59m square kilometres (km2).
The organisation notes that the data is still preliminary, adding that “large fluctuations in extent are typical of Antarctic sea ice near the seasonal maximum”.
One expert tells Carbon Brief that it is “concerning to see these low values persisting”, but says that scientists need more time to determine whether this represents a “structural shift” in Antarctic sea ice extent.
Meanwhile, at the Earth’s other pole, Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum on 12 September, ranking as the joint-10th lowest in the satellite record.
The NSIDC notes that the last 20 years have seen the lowest 20 Arctic sea ice extents in the satellite record.
Antarctic peak
Dr Lettie Roach, a polar climate scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, tells Carbon Brief that this year’s Antarctic sea ice maximum was “well below average for the season”. She warns that, “after several decades of stable or increasing winter Antarctic sea ice conditions, it is concerning to see these low values persisting”.
She adds:
“Compared with the Arctic, it’s less clear how recent changes in Antarctic sea ice are attributable to human-caused warming vs natural variability. We need more years of observations to better understand whether this is truly a structural shift.”
Dr Clare Eayrs, a postdoctoral researcher at the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), tells Carbon Brief that, since recording a “near-average February minimum” extent, Antarctic sea ice has “returned to unusually low winter coverage”.
She notes that Antarctic sea ice extent in July and August this year were the fifth and fourth lowest on record, respectively, adding that “all five of the lowest July extents have occurred since 2022 and all four of the lowest August extents since 2023”.
The chart below shows Antarctic sea ice extent in 2025 (dark blue) and 2026 (red) so far. For comparison, the chart shows decadal averages (dotted lines) as well as 2023 (mid blue), the year of the smallest winter sea-ice maximum on record.
Eayrs tells Carbon Brief that the regional pattern of Antarctic sea ice cover “changed substantially during the growth season”.
For example, she says that “in April, the Bellingshausen Sea remained almost entirely ice-free, while the neighbouring Amundsen Sea had more ice than usual”.
However, by late August, changes in atmospheric pressure and wind meant that “the Bellingshausen deficit had largely recovered, while ice was unusually scarce in the Amundsen Sea and across much of East Antarctica”.
Arctic minimum
Meanwhile, the Arctic recorded its minimum summer sea ice extent on 12 September. At 4.60m km2, this year ties with 2025, 2010 and 2008 as the 10th-lowest sea ice extent on record.
The chart below shows Arctic sea ice extent in 2025 (dark blue) and 2026 (red) so far. For comparison, the chart shows decadal averages (dotted lines) as well as 2012 (mid blue), the year of the smallest summer sea-ice minimum on record.
Roach tells Carbon Brief that although this minimum is not “record setting”, it is still “lower than any sea ice minimum before 2007”. She adds:
“Human-caused climate change has reduced Arctic sea ice cover and thickness, so the region is fundamentally different compared to a few decades ago.”
Scientists have been tracking Arctic sea ice thickness using a reanalysis produced called the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS) since 1979.
In March 2026, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) terminated a global dataset of air pressure that scientists relied upon to produce PIOMAS, forcing both datasets to stop publishing updates.
The PIOMAS website says it will take “considerable effort and time” to find alternative data to use in their reanalysis. It adds that “we don’t yet have a good sense if that’s possible with available funds and if so, when we will be able to resume production of a new PIOMAS timeseries”.
Roach also notes that August saw record-breaking heat sweep across much of the world, explaining that high temperatures “extended into Arctic coastal regions, close to regions with substantial sea ice loss – particularly the Barents-Kara and East Siberian seas”.
Dr Zack Labe, a scientist at Climate Central, tells Carbon Brief that the absence of a new record does not mean that ice cover is becoming more “resilient”. He says:
“Local weather patterns across the Arctic play a really important role in year-to-year sea-ice extent, even as the long-term trend is clearly downward.”
Labe tells Carbon Brief that weather in the Arctic this summer was “influenced mainly by lower pressure toward the central Arctic, which brought cloudier and cooler conditions that limited surface melt and delayed the start of the melt season”.
He explains that this “was most obvious across parts of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, where the melt season didn’t really kick off until after early July, which was more than two weeks later than normal”.
In contrast, he says, the Atlantic side of the Arctic “had a much more extreme summer”, with sea ice in the Barents Sea recording its “earliest melt-out on record”.
This was partly due to “unusually warm air and ocean temperatures”, Labe says. He notes, for example, that parts of western Siberia saw unusually persistent temperatures more than 5C above the 1981-2010 average for much of the summer, which extended out over the Kara Sea and contributed to substantial ice melt in this area”.
Labe tells Carbon Brief that, going forward, scientists need “more data and observations of other sea-ice metrics, like ice thickness, which may give us better insight into the overall condition of the ice pack, especially during years like 2026 when it is very fragmented”.
(In March 2026, Arctic sea ice reached its peak extent for this winter, clocking in as the joint-smallest in a satellite record going back almost half a century.)
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The post ‘Concerning’ low sea ice persists as Antarctic hits third-lowest winter peak appeared first on Carbon Brief.
‘Concerning’ low sea ice persists as Antarctic hits third-lowest winter peak
Participants at COP31 in Antalya will have a “duty” not to interfere in Türkiye’s internal affairs under the country’s hosting deal with the UN, reviving a clause dropped for last year’s climate summit in Brazil that human rights groups warn could put activists at risk.
Türkiye has faced growing criticism from human rights groups over the jailing of opposition figures, journalists and activists and imposed a blanket protest ban around July’s summit of the NATO military alliance in Ankara.
The contested provision is included in the binding agreement between the UN climate secretariat and the Turkish government that sets out responsibilities over logistical arrangements and details participants’ rights and obligations.
The document, signed in June but only made public on Wednesday, gives accredited COP31 attendees immunity from legal action over what they say, write or do in connection with the conference. Climate Home News understands that this safeguard can be applied to what takes place both inside and, in certain circumstances, outside of the UN-controlled COP “Blue Zone”. For the first time, this protection explicitly continues after the summit ends.
But participants enjoying these “privileges and immunities” also have a duty to respect Türkiye’s laws and regulations and not to interfere in its internal affairs, the agreement states. Rights groups fear its wide-ranging formulation could be used to discourage criticism of the host government.
Climate Home News understands that whether an action is covered by the immunity or infringes on the host’s internal affairs would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with close coordination between the country’s authorities and the UN climate change body.
A separate provision states that immunity shall be waived where the UN believes it would “impede the course of justice”.
‘Chilling effect’
Those same provisions featured in the host country agreements for COP28 in the United Arab Emirates and COP29 in Azerbaijan, both regarded as authoritarian regimes, before being dropped for COP30 in Brazil.
Ann Harrison, climate justice policy advisor at Amnesty International, said it is “extremely disappointing” that the COP31 agreement re-introduced clauses that could “hinder the ability of human rights defenders and civil society organisations to conduct their work safely”.
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She added the provisions could have a “wider chilling effect” on rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, given concerns over the human rights situation in Türkiye, including laws that “have shrunk civic space” and their “abusive” implementation by authorities.
The UN climate change body declined to comment.
Rights groups have documented blanket protest bans, unlawful use of force by the police and prosecutions of journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers across Türkiye in the last year.
Arrests and protest bans
Last July, environmental activist Esra Işık was sentenced to more than two years for “resisting” a public official over what Amnesty International described as a peaceful protest against an urgent expropriation order linked to the expansion of coal mining in south-western Türkiye. She is appealing the conviction.
Ahead of a summit of the NATO alliance in the capital Ankara in July, authorities put in place a 13-day blanket ban on demonstrations, citing “national security”, and arrested over 200 people. Human Rights Watch said the crackdown showed Türkiye’s “ruthless intolerance of freedom of speech and assembly”.
Earlier this month, Turkish police detained dozens of people as part of what rights groups described as the government’s widening crackdown on LGBTQ+ activists and venues.
Questioned by media as to how he would guarantee the right to protest at COP31, Kurum said earlier in September that his team would “try to meet” any request they receive from civil society and give them “a free space to express themselves”.
“Don’t worry, thinking you will not be able to voice your opinions or really share your thoughts,” he said in an attempt to reassure campaigners, adding that he had put former deputy environment minister Mehmet Birpinar in charge of liaising with civil society.
Civic space needed
Camilla Pollera, human rights and climate change campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), said meaningful participation at COP31 is fundamental to the legitimacy of climate action.
“At a climate summit, civil society participation necessarily includes being present, speaking out, scrutinising governments’ decisions and climate policies, and advocating for communities most vulnerable to climate change,” she added.
At last year’s COP30 summit, thousands of Indigenous people and climate activists peacefully marched through the Amazonian city of Belém in the first major demonstration outside the UN venue in four years. Smaller-scale demonstrations were largely confined to the “Blue Zone” at COP27 in Egypt, COP28 in the UAE and COP29 in Azerbaijan.
In two other separate incidents in Belém, members of the Munduruku tribe blocked access to the conference centre for hours, demanding an end to development projects in their ancestral land, and protesters stormed through the venue clashing with UN security officials.
The COP31 hosting agreement keeps some of the safeguards previously hailed by civil society groups. The government and the UN secretariat commit to upholding “the fundamental human rights” of all participants in the agreement’s preamble.
Under the deal, Türkiye also needs to ensure that security personnel follow “the highest ethical and professional standards and are expected to behave with integrity and respect”.
The post COP31 attendees told not to interfere in Türkiye’s “internal affairs” appeared first on Climate Home News.
COP31 attendees told not to interfere in Türkiye’s “internal affairs”
As rising seas submerge growing swathes of land, countries that lose territory should still keep their national boundaries, sovereign rights and UN membership, according to a political declaration adopted at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.
The declaration, which was championed by climate-vulnerable small island states, affirms “the presumption in favour of continued statehood” in the face of sea level rise fuelled by climate change, and urges countries to work together to assist communities affected by encroaching oceans.
Speaking at a high-level UN meeting to address the existential threats posed by sea level rise, Cabo Verde’s Prime Minister Francisco Carvalho, one of the initiative’s co-facilitators along with Australia, said the adoption of the text by consensus sends “a message of hope”.
“This declaration has a very special meaning. For us, sea level rise is neither a distant threat nor a theoretical concern,” he said, adding that rising seas put at risk key infrastructure, water resources and economic growth in small island states.
In the Pacific, sea levels have risen at twice the global rate, dramatically increasing coastal flooding events from two to 20 a year in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and from zero to 102 events per year in American Samoa, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Surangel Whipps Jr., president of the Pacific island of Palau, said the summit in New York represents a “moment of international solidarity”, and highlighted that small island states will remain permanent members of the UN.
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Declaration recognises statehood
An advisory opinion by the world’s top maritime court, the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), first upheld in 2024 that countries do not have to shrink their maritime borders even if they lose land territory due to sea level rise. This was reiterated by the International Court of Justice in last year’s landmark ruling on the climate obligations of states.
The new declaration endorsed by all governments at the UN General Assembly stresses that sea level rise “is not a distant scenario but a real and lived experience for many”, and notes that international law must be implemented in global responses to rising seas.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the “milestone must now be translated into action”, adding that the declaration should encourage an “ongoing dialogue” at the “highest possible level” leading to practical outcomes. Pacific islands have proposed an international treaty on sea level rise that would provide more legal certainty.
“Those on the frontlines must be front and centre on every decision. We cannot allow countries and cultures to vanish beneath the waves,” he said. “The SOS has gone out. The world must answer.”
At regional summit, Pacific islands ask for COP31 support for clean energy and finance
Goodwin Friday, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said measures to protect vulnerable states will require adequate finance. “Investing in resilience now is more cost-effective than paying the far greater price for loss and damage later,” he added.
Championed by Australia’s COP31 co-presidency, Pacific islands have sought to put adaptation to sea level rise and ocean conservation at the top of the political agenda by inviting world leaders to attend the pre-COP31 summit co-hosted by Fiji and Tuvalu in October.
Tuvalu will also host the second global fossil fuel phase-out summit in April 2027, after around 60 governments met this year in Santa Marta, Colombia, to discuss ending their dependence on coal, oil and gas.
“Our coastlines, our reefs and our communities are living with the consequences of fossil fuel dependence every day, and our people have earned the right to help shape the way forward,” Lynda Tabuya, Fiji’s climate minister, said in a statement announcing details of the conference.
Ocean monitoring gets a boost in New York
Amid record-breaking marine heat and seas rising at unprecedented speed, governments in New York announced new commitments to protect the world’s ocean, as efforts to bolster marine ecosystems and coastal communities rise up the political agenda.
On Wednesday, the EU and Canada announced more funding for a new Europe-led ocean monitoring system called OceanEye, launched in the aftermath of a failed attempt by the Trump administration to dismantle the largest existing network of deep-sea observatories.
During an event at UN headquarters in New York, EU President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced around $163 million in new funding for the initiative, with the EU pledging €92 million ($105m) on top of existing seed funding and Canada pledging C$82 million (US$58m) over five years.
According to an EU statement, while OceanEye will collaborate with the Global Ocean Observing System, that network “remains vulnerable to financial shortfalls and geopolitical disruptions”. A group of 30 countries from Europe, Africa and the Americas joined an international initiative in support of OceanEye, including large coastal nations like Brazil, Namibia and Mexico.
Von der Leyen said OceanEye “can make us the leading ocean data provider in a matter of years”, including by launching new satellites and installing new observatories in the deep ocean. “From outer space to the deepest ocean, our funding helps us keep watch beneath the waves,” she added.
Carney said the initiative would help protect Canada’s Arctic region with real-time monitoring operating year-round. “We can’t protect what we can’t see,” he said, also highlighting that Canada had expanded conservation of its ocean territory from 1% a decade ago to 15% now.
In New York, a group of 19 countries said they are either developing or implementing plans to sustainably manage all of their ocean territory, with 12 new nations joining the initiative. In a joint communiqué, they called on more countries to sign up ahead of COP31.
Warnings of El Niño-fuelled extreme heat
Scientists and world leaders have raised the alarm over this year’s record-breaking marine temperatures, which have persisted above historical peaks for more than 100 days as the naturally occurring El Niño phenomenon intensifies in the Pacific.
Extreme ocean heat could become a threat to coastal ecosystems and communities, experts fear. Water temperatures 1.5C above normal levels have also rapidly fuelled a strong hurricane in the Pacific in recent days.
Despite scientific calls for additional ocean conservation efforts, a report launched this week in New York warned that efforts to protect ocean ecosystems are lagging behind, with only 10% of the global ocean covered by conservation areas and just 3.5% designated as “effectively protected”.
The post Threatened by rising seas, small islands secure right to keep their statehood appeared first on Climate Home News.
Threatened by rising seas, small islands secure right to keep their statehood
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