Decolonising Climate Governance: Centering Indigenous Knowledge and Regional Innovations for Planetary Health

Abstract

Contemporary climate policy is largely rooted in Western epistemology, marginalizing indigenous knowledge systems that have sustained the health of the planet for centuries. The study evaluates the necessity of decolonizing climate policy through the recognition and inclusion of indigenous ecological knowledge in global and national climate policies. Changing geographical focus to African realities, and Kenya's indigenous populations specifically, the article demonstrates how indigenous traditional environmental management practices facilitate biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and sustainable livelihoods. It stresses indigenous activities' spiritual, cultural, and communal character, and advocates for their worth per se over utility. Using a qualitative comparative approach, the study investigates regional case studies like Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative that embodies reforestation and sustainability models founded upon local and indigenous practices. The study underscores how such practices resonate with global goals like the Paris Agreement, showing their flexibility in different contexts. The study also examines the transformational potential of incorporating indigenous ecological knowledge into regional innovation systems, facilitating adaptive governance and long-term resilience amidst the climate crisis. The results show that the exclusion of indigenous knowledge reinforces historical injustices, increases socio-environmental injustices, and reduces the effectiveness of climate action. The paper demands a decolonized model of governance that hears indigenous peoples as co-authors of climate solutions, local innovations, and knowledge pluralism in global policies. By merging context-based innovations with local knowledge, this study promotes fair, equitable, and sustainable global planetary health outcomes by placing marginalized voices at the forefront of designing a sustainable future.