Indigenous Peoples’ Views on Climate Change and Their Experiences, Coping and Adaptation Strategies in South Asia: A Review

Climate change is a global issue that affects everyone. According to Amnesty International, nearly 370 million indigenous peoples live in more than 90 countries and account for 5% of the world’s population. Because of their close contact with the environment, they have an extensive understanding and knowledge of local climate conditions. Understanding how indigenous peoples perceive and interpret climate change and how they cope with the negative impacts of climate change is critical to formulating sustainable strategies for these local communities. Yet, there is a large gap in understanding climate change perceptions, especially among indigenous peoples around the world. Therefore, this chapter reviews some existing kinds of literature on indigenous peoples’ views on climate change and explores their coping and adaptation strategies, especially for those living in South Asian countries. In addition, this chapter also discusses how indigenous peoples predict various climatic events in their own ways. Finally, in this chapter, we have outlined why it is important for the well-being of indigenous peoples and their resilience to climate change to integrate local or traditional knowledge and experiences into the mainstream scientific understanding of climate change. We found that while different indigenous groups perceive climate change differently, there is some agreement, particularly regarding changing patterns of temperature and precipitation. Local ways of understanding climate events ultimately make them aware of climate change adaptation strategies. We also found that indigenous experiences should be prioritized at the policy level to ensure sustainable development for local communities. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) highlights the need to take urgent action to address climate change and its impacts (SDG 13 or Goal 13) and suggests developing policies, plans, and strategies at the national level that include action on climate change (13.2) and prioritize local and marginalized communities, as well as women and youth (13.b). If we are to meet the requirements of the SDGs, the voices, experiences, and knowledge of indigenous peoples should be considered as part of a fair and effective participatory approach. This review study has the potential to encourage a wide range of stakeholders and policymakers to take sustainable actions that link indigenous peoples’ knowledge and experiences with mainstream scientific policy to reduce the impacts of climate change on local communities and address appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies.