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A systematic scoping review of Indigenous governance concepts in the climate governance literature

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Abstract

While Indigenous peoples have governed their territories for millennia, mainstream climate governance literature underrepresents Indigenous governance roles in climate governance. The objective of this study is to systematically document the extent to which Indigenous governance concepts are incorporated into the climate governance literature. Using a systematic scoping search and screening process, we identified 195 references. To be included, references had to be published between 2010 and 2020, in English, explicitly mention Indigenous peoples, have a substantial focus on human responses to experienced or anticipated effects of climate change and governance, and be based on primary data or a review of primary data. Relevant references were analyzed using a data extraction questionnaire. Our results indicate that despite the growing number of publications, only two-fifths fully incorporated Indigenous governance concepts. We found that Indigenous governance concepts were more likely to be incorporated in references that included an author affiliated with an Indigenous organization, used qualitative methods, and focused on protected areas or climate transformation. Finally, most references incorporated Indigenous Knowledge systems, but this did not correspond to greater attention to Indigenous governance. Based on our findings, we make three recommendations for the climate governance literature: (i) follow Indigenous research protocols, (ii) move beyond a narrow focus on the “supplemental value” of Indigenous Knowledge systems to acknowledge the “governance value,” and (iii) engage with transformational climate responses that address the systemic inequalities created by historical and ongoing colonialism.

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Notes

  1. While climate governance is often focused on the global scale, it can include any explicit or implicit policy, mechanism, or response aimed at responding to climate change from the local to global scale.

  2. Colonialism is based on domination by an external power. There are two main forms of colonialism. Whereas extractive colonialism seeks to control to gain access to resources, only settler colonialism seeks to replace Indigenous peoples with a settler society to gain access to territory (Wolfe 2006). Both forms of colonialism are legitimated, justified, and reinforced through the discursive and non-discursive aspects of economic, racialized, gendered, and state power which can be observed in practice through the use of various technologies (e.g., maps, laws, and numbers) (Harris 2004; Coulthard 2014).

  3. Adaptation is defined as the “process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects” (IPCC 2014, p. 118).

  4. Mitigation is defined as a “human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases (GHGs)” (IPCC 2014, p. 125).

  5. Transformation is defined as a “change in the fundamental attributes of natural and human systems” (IPCC 2014, p. 128). While transformation can be “forced/emergent” (see Folke et al. 2010), we focus on transformation as a “deliberate” process of change where humans intentionally drive fundamental system change towards ethical and sustainable futures (Walker et al. 2004; O’Brien 2012; Shah et al. 2018). Adaptation and mitigation can be transformative responses to climate risks if they are rooted in policy responses that go beyond incremental change. Transformative mitigation efforts are geared towards addressing the root causes of climate change, and transformative adaptation responses incorporate justice and equity considerations (Pelling et al. 2015; Krause 2018).

  6. The LCIPP is coordinated by the UNFCC Secretariat, which is the United Nations entity responsible for supporting the global response to climate change.

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Acknowledgements

All three of the authors of this paper are non-Indigenous peoples who work at the University of Manitoba which is situated on Treaty 1 Territory and the original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples and on the homeland of the Métis Nation. Wilson is a scholar of European settler ancestry who was born on Treaty 7 Territory. María G. Lira is non-Indigenous from Mexico studying the Natural Resources and Environmental Management PhD Program at the University of Manitoba. Grace O’Hanlon is an academic librarian of mixed European settler ancestry who was born on the unceded lands of the Sto:lo peoples.

Funding

This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs Program (Wilson).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2M6, Canada

    Nicole J. Wilson, Maria G. Lira & Grace O’Hanlon

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  1. Nicole J. Wilson
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  2. Maria G. Lira
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  3. Grace O’Hanlon
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Contributions

Nicole J. Wilson conceptualized the review. Nicole J. Wilson and Grace O’Hanlon developed the review strategy (methods) that were used. Maria G. Lira and Nicole J. Wilson conducted the scoping review including article screening and data extraction in DistillerSR. Nicole J. Wilson completed the analysis of the review results. Nicole J. Wilson led the writing process with contributions and editing from Maria G. Lira and Grace O’Hanlon.

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Correspondence to Nicole J. Wilson.

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Wilson, N.J., Lira, M.G. & O’Hanlon, G. A systematic scoping review of Indigenous governance concepts in the climate governance literature. Climatic Change 171, 32 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03354-7

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