Nakashima douglas kampala cba nap expo 26 june 2017

Nakashima douglas kampala cba nap expo 26 june 2017

1. Vulnerable Peoples and Groups:
Challenges and opportunities for adaptation action
CBA11/NAP Expo
Kampala, 28 June 2017
www.unesco.org/links

2. ‘Vulnerable’ Communities
“Those in the weakest economic position are often the
most vulnerable to climate change, and are frequently the
most susceptible to climate-related damages, especially
when they face multiple stresses” (IPCC, AR4).
IPCC considers indigenous peoples and rural communities as
vulnerable due to their:
-Direct dependence on resource-based livelihoods;
-Location of homelands in marginal environments;
-Social and economic marginalisation;
-Small population sizes, amongst other aspects.
However, vulnerability is a concept that is challenging to
analyse and easy to misunderstand and misrepresent.
Many indigenous peoples do not see themselves as
‘vulnerable’ in the face of climate change

3. Understanding Vulnerablity and Resilience
Vulnerability can be seen to be composed of (Prnoet al. 2011):
Exposure -degree of exposure to climate stress;
Sensitivity -degree to which a system is affected by stress;
Adaptive capacity –capacity to adjust to climate stress.
Rather than merely ‘vulnerable’, it would be more accurate to
consider indigenous and rural peoples as having:
a high degree of exposure-sensitivity to climate stress,
but also a high adaptive capacity in the face of change.
Adaptive capacity is a major component of resilience.
Maintaining community resilience in the face of
climate change should be a major goal of
national adaptation efforts.

4. Indigenous Peoples as Partners in Adaptation
Indigenous & rural peoples
have long histories of
dealing with environmental
variability.
Their accumulated local and
indigenous knowledge is a
major foundation for
resilience.
But what do we know about
indigenous and rural peoples’
knowledge of weather and climate?

5. •The ritual observation of the Pleiades constellation
by indigenous farmers in the Andes of Peru and
Bolivia, as part of the festival of San Juan.
•The night after the winter solstice (24 June), 100s
gather on mountain topsto forecast the timing and
quantity of rains, as well as the size of the harvest,
for the coming year (October to March)
•If the star cluster appears large and bright, then rain
will be abundant. If small and dim in appearance
then poor rains.
•In the latter case, farmers delay the planting of
potatoes, their most important crop.
(Orlove et al., 2002)
A Case Study from the Andes

6. •The perceived size and brightness of the Pleiades
varies with the amount of thin, high cloud at the top
of the troposphere, which in turn reflects the severity
of El Niño conditions over the Pacific.
•Because rainfall in this region is generally sparse in
El Niño years, this simple method provides a
valuable forecast.
•One that is as good or better (65%) than any long-
term prediction based on computer modeling of the
ocean and atmosphere (55-60%).
Andean ethnoclimatology

7. I
IPCC-5AR: Outcomes for
indigenous peoples’ knowledge
Summary for Policymakers
5AR Synthesis Report -2014
Indigenous, local, and traditional knowledge
systems and practices, including indigenous
peoples’ holistic view of community and
environment, are a major resource for adapting
to climate change …
Integrating such forms of knowledge with
existing practices increases the effectiveness
of adaptation.
(IPCC 2014: 27)

8. IUNFCCC COP21 –Paris Agreement
Article 7.
Parties acknowledge that adaptation action … should
be based on and guided by the best available science
and, as appropriate, traditional knowledge,
knowledge of indigenous peoples and local
knowledge systems, with a view to integrating
adaptation into relevant socioeconomic and
environmental policies and actions, where appropriate.
An Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform in
the process of being established under the UNFCCC.

9. I
The ‘best available knowledge’
for adaptation efforts
Improved decision-making on climate issues
‘Best available knowledge’
co-produced knowledge
Knowledge of indigenous Scientific knowledge
peoples & local communities
LCIP
Platform
+

10. I
Difficulties aligning IK and science:
Insights from a case study in Mongolia
Pastoralists in Mongolia report major degradation of
pastures since 1999 (Marin 2010)due to:
change in the qualityof rains
-less soft rains (shivreeboroo) that penetrate soils,
-more hard rains (shiruunboroo) that run-off.
increase in localized patchiness of rainfall
-no longer rains over large areas
-‘silk embroidery’ rains (torgniiheeboroo) fall in limited
areas with extensive areas left devoid of pasture
However scientific data for the same area and
period show nosignificant change –
Quantitativemeasures of average annual
precipitation over largeterritories

11. I
Challenges: Bringing indigenous knowledge
into Climate Change Adaptation
1.Bridging scales –gap between local & regional/global
•Challenges may be global, but solutions need to be local
•Science technologies (remote-sensing, ocean monitoring,
seasonal outlook) provide valuable data,
•But scales are often too broad for local decision-making,
•Regional forecasts miss patchiness of rainfall.
2.Connecting qualitative and quantitative measures
•Quantitative data may miss critical qualitative information
•Give total and mean rainfall (but need to know ‘when’ and
‘type’ of rain)
3.What to monitor?
•Standardized scientific measurements may ignore factors
essential for local livelihoods
•Indigenous peoples lead in identifying priorities for
adaptation

12. •Move beyond science-centred approaches
•Accept IK on its own terms (abandon ethnocentric
processes such as scientific validation)
•Focus on processes, not on accumulation of ‘facts’
•Seek new understandings and solutions through the
co-production of knowledge that brings scientists and
indigenous peoples together on equitable terms
•Decentralize management processes to the local
level so as to ensure frameworks that support equity
in knowledge production and decision-making
To build genuine dialogue between
indigenous and scientific knowledge

13. Emerging paradigm: scientific and indigenous
knowledge holders working together to co-
produce new solutions to complex challenges.
ojoint formulation of novel research questions
ocollaborative methods for data gathering
oflexible arrangements for interaction
ocomplementary data sets –qualitative & holistic
along with quantitative and reductionist
orespect for different approaches, worldviews and
epistemologies
Co-production of Knowledge

14. ICommunity-based Observatories
Subregionalnetworks of Observatories based on
indigenous knowledge and community observations:
-Circumpolar Arctic network (reindeer herders and hunters)
-Sub-Saharan Africa network (pastoralists)
-Pacific (traditional seasonal calendars)
Two regions where vulnerability is high and climate
change impacts are expected to be severe.
•Bridging Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge about Global
Change in theArctic
-Reindeerpastoralists from Sweden (Sami) and Russian Federation
(Even); and hunters (Inuit) from Alaska, Canada and Greenland.
•On the Frontlines of Climate Change project forAfrica
-Led by pastoral peoples -Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Tanzania,
Kenya, Uganda