Outlook on climate change adaptation in the Tropical Andes mountains

Indigenous people

Indigenous people have interacted with climatic variability and change in the Tropical Andes Mountains over millenniums. In the process, people have developed essential knowledge about the local climate and environment (Melo Cevallos 2014; Llosa Larrabure, et al., 2009). This knowledge is increasingly acknowledged and included in policy instruments and practices for adapting to climate change (Torres et al., 2014). Peru’s ENCC states that actions should be implemented with an intercultural perspective that is appropriate to their indigenous populations’ collective rights. Colombia’s Joint Programme for Ecosystem Integration and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Colombian Massif aims to generate adaptive capacity in rural and indigenous communities by truly acknowledging these populations as citizens with rights and knowledge, respecting their way of life, and exchanging experience (Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, 2015). It is also relevant to emphasize the changes brought about by COP20 which, by increasing the number of stakeholders involved in the process, included increasing the representation from indigenous organizations in the discussion and final agreements. The importance of strengthening the knowledge of indigenous people on climate change to facilitate adaptive capacity, in addition to removing other barriers, such as discrimination and poverty, was further stressed in the 2015 Paris Agreement (UNFCCC, 2015). 50

Locals in a market in Pisac, Peru

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