Introduction
At the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in August, human rights activist and environmentalist Joan Carling declared, “People are not sitting down; people are taking action. And women are at the forefront of these actions.” Her words highlight an often-overlooked truth in the fight against climate change: although women are significantly underrepresented in formal decision-making roles, they play a crucial role on the ground in building climate-resilient communities and driving sustainable practices. This reality is especially visible in Indigenous communities worldwide, which stand at the frontline of the climate crisis. Globally, Indigenous people maintain a deep, reciprocal relationship with their natural environment, rooted in traditions and ecological practices. This accumulated knowledge—often called Indigenous Climate Knowledge Systems (ICKS)—is not merely about survival; it embodies a sophisticated understanding of ecosystems, including insights into plant and animal behaviours, land management, and sustainable resource use. These practices have, passed down over generations, form an invaluable knowledge base that informs how Indigenous communities adapt to environmental changes and manage natural resources in harmony with nature. Although not formally defined, ICKS generally captures these systems of ecological knowledge, grounded in cultural heritage and a profound respect for the interdependence of all life.
A distinct aspect of these knowledge systems that makes them unique is that, unlike conventional methods, indigenous practices prioritise balance and reciprocity with nature, recognizing the interconnectedness between humans and nature. This unique understanding of the ecosystem allows communities to manage natural resources in ways that maintain biodiversity and ecological balance and can offer valuable insights into modern environmental challenges. However, in recent years, policy and legal frameworks built to support developmental projects have severely affected the rights of the indigenous communities in their surrounding environment.
Historically, in India, the constitution makes special provisions under the Fifth and Sixth Schedules for land and self-governance (IWGIA, n.d) for Scheduled Tribes. Currently, there are about 705 groups that are officially recognized as “Scheduled Tribes,” with large concentrations in the northeastern regions and the central states, from Rajasthan to West Bengal, many of whom have a unique culture, heritage, livelihood practices, language, and religion.
Furthermore, India’s vast tribal population has rich, untapped indigenous climate knowledge, developed through centuries of living in harmony with diverse ecosystems. Integrating these practices in policy building has the potential to strengthen climate resilience and offer sustainable solutions for conserving India’s unique biodiversity.
Recognition of Indigenous Climate Knowledge in International Law
Indigenous Climate Knowledge Systems (ICKS) are now globally recognized as essential tools for building climate resilience—a recognition achieved only after long-standing struggles by Indigenous communities. Movements like Idle No More in Canada and the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in the U.S. were pivotal in asserting Indigenous rights over land and water resources. In Asia, Indigenous groups from Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam formed a regional forum in 2019 to address climate change’s growing threat to their communities, promoting Indigenous Knowledge Systems and a rights-based approach to sustainable development (Salamanca, 2019). The unequivocal realisation was that environmental policies needed to be democratic and inclusive in their process, since climate change affects all even if unequally.
This global advocacy influenced the Paris Agreement, which adopted a rights-based approach by formally including Indigenous communities and their environmental knowledge. The creation of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change in 2008 further facilitated Indigenous participation in UN climate negotiations, helping establish the vital role of their knowledge in global policy (CIEL, 2019). Under the decision on the adoption of the Agreement, a formal space was established through a Facilitative Working Group (FWG) came to be known as the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIP) under the UNFCCC (Tran, 2023).
Global participation from indigenous communities at negotiations has also seen an active response. At the COP27 2022, the highest number of participants with over 300 representatives participated in the negotiation and side events (Tran, 2023) belonging to Indigenous Communities. Formal settings and conferences provide a space for all stakeholders to share their concerns. Yet, across the board, approximately 35% of women participated in the negotiations at the COP27; a number which has remained stagnant since COP14 (with only 31% of women participating) (Bigda, 2024). The barriers for Indigenous communities and women against access to international frameworks, like the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, increasingly leave room for addressing many important aspects of climate change.
While international platforms, like the UNFCCC’s Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform, have created spaces for Indigenous voices, Indigenous perspectives—especially those of women—are often still sidelined in key decision-making processes. These platforms frequently emphasize consultation rather than meaningful participation, with Indigenous voices remaining underrepresented in high-level climate negotiations. The structures of these initiatives tend to prioritize state-led agendas, which can limit the autonomy of Indigenous communities to shape the climate policies that directly impact them. As a result, the full potential of Indigenous women’s resilience-building knowledge is not yet fully integrated into climate solutions, highlighting an ongoing need for a deeper, more central commitment to these voices in international climate frameworks.
Women’s Role in Knowledge Systems
The vulnerability of women—especially Indigenous women—to climate change is often considered a threat of “triple discrimination” as it contributes to further isolation and inaccessibility to health and education opportunities (CIF, 2021). Yet, to simply consider Indigenous women as victims in this system would be an injustice to their role in traditional resilience practices. On a closer look at the ICKS, one discovers that women in these communities are often considered the guardians of traditional knowledge. Across the world, despite challenges, Indigenous women have taken the role of custodians, keepers, and transmitters of traditional knowledge and practices in their communities and households (CIF, 2021). The traditional caregiving role of women in many communities entrusts them with passing on this knowledge to future generations as well.
In fact, in many communities in Kenya, Colombia, and Northeast India, women are at the centre of social networks, including family relations, and help facilitate knowledge transfer (CIF, 2021) and learning of knowledge systems. In many cases, due to their roles in the family, women tend to hold traditional knowledge of aspects such as maintenance of household food and water security, bioindicators of the health of plant and animal species, sustainable management of natural resources, managing and mitigating risks of hazards (CIF, 2021), impacts of illness on health and household cures.
In the process of recognising the traditional knowledge systems and building an approach to integrate them with scientific approaches to climate change, Indigenous women must be viewed as the agents of change and stakeholders in action. In this context, gender-responsive climate action can not only help mitigate climate crisis more effectively but also promote gender equity and cultural preservation for many communities that may be at risk of erosion of this knowledge due to ongoing threats.
Community Resilience Practices in India
Indigenous communities are known to live near natural resources for their livelihoods, and are among the most directly impacted by climate change. In India, tribal communities often inhabit vulnerable, biodiverse areas like the forests, mountains, and coastal areas, where changes in climate—such as altered rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and extreme weather events—directly threaten their food security, health and traditional practices.
Despite these challenges, Indigenous groups in India have long practised resilience through sustainable resource management, community-based farming, and traditional water conservation techniques. As custodians of traditional practices related to agriculture, water management, and forest conservation, Indigenous women safeguard biodiversity and maintain sustainable livelihoods in the face of climate change. They lead efforts in seed preservation, organic farming, and medicinal plant knowledge, which are crucial for food security and health within these communities. Some of these are discussed through case studies where women have taken the role of agents for community resilience in India-
Case Study: Communities of Meghalaya
The northeastern state of India is home to many Indigenous communities, including the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia tribes. The Khasis, with around 48% of the total population (Kundu, 2021), is the largest tribe by population in the state. The tribe is famous for their weaving practices with which they make cane mats, stools, and baskets.
One of the most defining features of these communities is their matrilineal social structure, which means that the lineage is passed down through the mothers and the youngest daughters inherit land. The Khasi community has been granted the status of Scheduled Tribe under the Indian constitution, and predominantly practice their indigenous religions; however, a growing number of Khasis have converted to Christianity, which can be considered a result of the missionaries during the colonial times in India.
Despite modernisation in some of their life practices and building techniques, the Khasis have remained closely tied to their natural environment and possess deep ecological consciousness and knowledge. Women in the community play an important role in ensuring food sovereignty by doubling as conservers of seeds and food producers (Chitnis, 2016).
In the rural Khasi ecosystem, women have been carriers of the indigenous knowledge systems that are collectively owned, and also take the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, beliefs, and values (Shangpliang, 2021). Gender equality within the Khasi tribe is also witnessed in shared responsibilities, where women also participate in fishing and traditional silk thread spinning (WIF, n.d.). The women have also led the initiative to conserve ancient shifting cultivation methods to enable the diversification of crops. In the Udem village, the Khasi women have also set up weaving initiatives using only natural plant-based colours (WIF, n.d.). The tribes’ practices, and especially the central role played by women in traditional knowledge systems, have been studied internationally for their thriving local ecosystems.
Case Study: Communities of Araku Valley
The Eastern ghats in central India are home to tribal communities such as the Khord, B.Mallis, Bagata, Koya and others. Among them the Araku tribes have been considered one of the most marginalised communities in the country with grappling challenges in access to adequate health and education facilities (Jahan, 2024). However, the region has witnessed a remarkable transformation due to the growing popularity of the Araku coffee across the world. With the aid of groups such as the Naandi foundation, the tribal group has returned to the cultivation of coffee after more than 50 years. This transformation has lifted more than 10,000 tribal community farmers out of poverty.
Women in the community have played a central role not only in this transformation but also upholding the values, supporting family, community and the environment through it. Along with household responsibilities, women have been involved in collecting forest produce, liquor making and in passing on the knowledge of traditional medicines and clothing designs from one generation to the next (Acharya, 2023). Due to their close tie up with nature, the women have also become custodian of specific plant types like the red rice which has been preserved through generations in the region (Jahan, 2024).
Even in the coffee plantations, rural women are involved in large numbers, from cultivation to harvesting. According to figures by the Naandi Foundation, more than 35,000 women farmers are trained in regenerative agriculture to cultivate ‘Good Food Corners’ with healthy, chemical-free crops for nutritional security and financial freedom (Naandi, n.d.).
Policy Recommendations
Formal Recognition of Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Enact policies that formally recognize ICKS and integrate these practices within environmental and climate policies to leverage their resilience-building potential.
Enhance Indigenous Participation in Policymaking: Even in some matrilineal tribes, women’s rights over land and central positions in the community do not translate into political leadership or decision-making. Thus, it is necessary to establish inclusive frameworks to actively involve Indigenous leaders, particularly women, in climate decision-making at local, state, and national levels.
Protect Land Rights: Over the last couple of years, development projects and policy development have continued to threaten the rights of tribal communities. Millions of tribals and forest dwellers have been denied claims over the forest land under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006. In order to safeguard the traditional knowledge systems, the government needs to prioritise the interests of the tribal communities and grant them access to their traditional practices connect with their ancestral land.
Incorporate ICKS in Education: Integrate Indigenous knowledge into environmental education curricula to foster broader respect for sustainable practices across communities. This will also allow the sharing of knowledge and the integration of ICKS with scientific conservation practices.
Conclusion
Indigenous Climate Knowledge Systems (ICKS) embody centuries of ecological wisdom rooted in sustainable practices, making them invaluable for contemporary climate resilience. Globally and within India, Indigenous communities have demonstrated a capacity to sustain biodiversity, manage natural resources, and preserve ecosystems. Yet, despite this intrinsic value, Indigenous voices—particularly those of women—remain underrepresented in climate policies. Women in Indigenous communities play a crucial role as custodians of traditional knowledge, carrying forward skills in resource management, food sovereignty, and medicinal plant preservation. However, institutional barriers and systemic inequities continue to undermine their contributions.
In India, integrating Indigenous climate knowledge with policy frameworks offers a path to achieve climate resilience while respecting cultural heritage. Strengthening Indigenous women’s roles as agents of climate action can further enhance community resilience and sustainability. A robust and inclusive policy approach is essential for India to harness the full potential of Indigenous climate knowledge, ensuring that Indigenous communities are not only consulted but are active, respected stakeholders in climate solutions.
