About the event

Indigenous Peoples have been managing and governing water resources since time immemorial, from places with abundant water to semi and arid environments, in all global regions. Though there has been some research on indigenous knowledge of water, overall, most of the traditional and contemporary efforts, values, capacity and commitments remain undocumented or little known to decision-makers and scientists.

Through a series of diverse regional case studies, the side event aims to outline current practices and a road map for new approaches and new commitments to an inclusive, rights based and multiple evidence approach to water management and governance, with special attention to sustaining biodiversity, food systems and addressing climate changes.

The side event demonstrates how Indigenous Peoples engagement in water policy helps respond to climate change and sustaining biodiversity in the context of the new UNCBD Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, as well as pertinent UN Decades, including the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which is coordinated by Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission / UNESCO and which has a focus on Indigenous knowledge as a key driver of locally relevant sustainable development solutions.