Decolonizing climate agreements strengthens policy and research for all future generations

Graeme Reed; Angele Alook; Deborah McGregor

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-49143-x

Decolonizing climate agreements strengthens policy and research for all future generations

Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 6;15(1):4810. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49143-x.

Authors

Graeme Reed¹, Angele Alook², Deborah McGregor³

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada. graereed@yorku.ca.
² School of Gender Sexuality and Women's Studies, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada.
³ Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada.

Abstract

Global climate policy has increasingly acknowledged the specific contributions of Indigenous Peoples. The outcome of COP 28, however, demonstrates that this acknowledgement has not shifted the conceptual foundations of dominant climate solutions, nor has it created space for Indigenous Peoples to effectively contribute. Drawing on our expertise as Indigenous scholars and practitioners, we offer four recommendations to shift climate policy and research away from these foundations towards reciprocal relationships with the natural world – strengthening it for future generations.