Interactive Session: Harnessing Indigenous Knowledge to Address Climate Change – Lessons Learned from Around the World

The World Bank and Climate Investment Funds (CIF) will disseminate the findings from a just completed study entitled “Contribution of Traditional Knowledge and Technologies to Climate Solutions”. The report draws on case studies from across the World Bank that demonstrate tested approaches by Indigenous people and local communities for tackling climate risks and makes a case for building synergies across conventional systems and traditional technology and knowledge.

During this session, CIF will share the results, challenges, and lessons from its innovative grant-making mechanism for Indigenous People’s Organizations as it relates to tested traditional approaches for restoring the world’s Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) managed forests. The Dedicated Grant Mechanism (DGM) for IPLC is a global initiative that supports the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation to promoting sustainable forest management and forest carbon stocks (REDD+). Established in 2010 as a special window under the Climate Investment Funds’ (CIF) Forest Investment Program (FIP) and implemented by the World Bank, the DGM places US$80 million directly in the hands of indigenous peoples and local communities in 13 developing countries and globally who have been traditional and effective stewards of the world’s rainforests.