UNESCO and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-France), in partnership with Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee and Tebtebba, will organize an international conference on indigenous knowledge and climate change. Indigenous peoples, scientists and governments are invited to a transdisciplinary dialogue to better understand the role that indigenous and local knowledge can play, alongside science, in observing and responding to the impacts of a changing climate. Also how climate change policy, programmes and tools can create a space for indigenous and local knowledge in order to reinforce efforts to strengthen local resilience.

The conference will bring together some of the world’s best experts from indigenous peoples, researchers and governments. Speakers will provide testimonies about how local communities are grappling with impacts exacerbated by climate change, their efforts to adapt but also the constraints and limits that they are facing, and case studies that highlight how indigenous and local knowledge can be sources of renewed understanding, resilience and resistance.

Sessions will be organized around the following themes:

• Observing and understanding the impacts of climate change, including extreme events
• Adapting traditional livelihoods – coping with change, seeking opportunities, and recognizing constraints and limits
• Mitigation: from impacts on indigenous lands to recognizing indigenous peoples' contributions
• Climate change and the ontologies/worldviews of indigenous peoples and scientists