I hope you, your families, and communities are well despite this time of great uncertainty and turmoil we are living in. Amongst the many crises we are facing, climate change has the potential to trump them all. According to the latest climate data, 2023 was the warmest year capping off the warmest decade on record globally. Greenhouse gas concentrations reached record highs, now 50% higher than pre-industrial levels. Around the world in 2023, floods, storms, wildfires, landslides, and heatwaves killed at least 12,000 people and caused significant economic losses. In 2024, 27 weather and climate disasters caused several hundred deaths and at least $1 billion in damages in the United States alone, and we are awaiting data from the rest of the world. We can see with our own eyes that climate change is increasing the severity, frequency, and impacts of extreme events, and scientists predict global temperatures will continue to rise, driving increases and intensity of severe weather and related deaths and damage.
Indigenous Peoples living in balance with Mother Earth contribute the least to climate change and yet are disproportionately impacted by it. Our hope for the future of our communities, humanity, and all life comes from knowing that our languages, values, governance, and knowledge systems carry solutions to today’s most pressing issues, including climate change adaptation and mitigation. This issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly is dedicated to uplifting this knowledge and promoting community action to address climate change-induced natural disasters. Indigenous Peoples’ deep connections to their lands and environments inform climate-resilient practices, which include sustainable agriculture, water and land management, ecosystem protection through stewardship of biodiversity and carbon sequestration, as well as using weather and climate forecasting systems to prepare for extreme weather events. Indigenous Peoples steward around 25% of the world’s land, including a large portion of Mother Earth’s biodiversity, as well as carbon stored in soil and biomass and at least 36% of the world’s intact forests.
Support for Indigenous Peoples is critical at this time. Governments must recognize Indigenous Peoples’ rights to land and resources and sovereignty over their territories, listen to Indigenous voices incorporating their knowledge and values into climate policy, and provide Indigenous Peoples with direct access to climate finance and capacity building. With this support, Indigenous communities can adapt, build resilience to climate change, safeguard biodiversity, and support humanity with critical knowledge to ensure a better future for all life on Mother Earth.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders and directed actions that have raised significant concerns among our communities due to their disproportionate negative impacts on Indigenous people. As an Indigenous-led organization, we stand in solidarity with Indigenous and Native communities and remain committed to advocating for their rights, sovereignty, and well being. We are actively monitoring these developments and working alongside our partners to challenge policies that threaten Indigenous lands, cultures, and self-determination.
Now more than ever, we reaffirm our dedication to amplifying Indigenous voices and ensuring their concerns are heard at all levels of decision-making. Your partnership supports Indigenous Peoples in safeguarding knowledge systems, languages, and lifeways for future generations and allows us to amplify Indigenous voices in leading the way to climate change solutions. Please give generously at www.cs.org/donate.
Hטchi yakoke li hoke (I thank you all so much),
Aimee Roberson (Choctaw and Chickasaw), Executive Director
