Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge are crucial to address environmental impacts, such as climate change, where the uncertainty of outcome is high and a range of responses are required . However, working with this knowledge in an appropriate and ethically acceptable way can be challenging. For instance, questions of data 'validity' and the requirement to communicate such knowledge in the dominant language can lead to inaccurate portrayals of Indigenous knowledge as inferior to science. This may overlook the uniqueness of Indigenous knowledge and then lead to the overall devaluation of indigenous political economies, cultural ecologies, languages, educational systems and spiritual practices . Furthermore, Indigenous knowledge is too often only sought superficially-focusing only on the 'what', rather than the 'how' of climate change adaptation and/or seen through the lenses of 'romantic glorification' leaving little room for the knowledge to be expressed as authored by the communities and knowledge holders themselves .
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report