International Public Forum on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change: The Tropical Australian Experience
UNU-IAS, CDU, NAILSMA, NTG
3 April 2008 (Darwin, Australia)
Indigenous peoples have contributed the least to world greenhouse gas emissions and have the smallest ecological footprints on Earth. Although they are currently suffering the worst impacts of climate change, their centuries of traditional knowledge and on-the-ground adaptation to worsening conditions have much to teach the rest of the world about how to deal with the impacts of climate change, according to speakers at a Public Forum held on 3 April in Darwin, Australia, hosted by the United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, the North Australia Indigenous Sea and Land Management Alliance and the Northern Territory Government.
Five expert speakers, combining indigenous and traditional knowledge with more traditional western science, were selected to speak at the Public Forum, to share their experiences in northern Australia with the International Expert Meeting on Climate Change and Indigenous People.
Themes addressed during the Forum included:
- Fire management – Dr Jeremy Russell-Smith and Mr Dean Yibarbuk
- Adaptive capacity of Indigenous peoples – Professor Wendy Brady
- Health – Professor Bart Currie and Dr Ngiare Brown
Read the Press Release…
Visit the Public Forum site (includes mp3 downloads for all speakers)…
