Aboriginal people face significant and disproportionate impacts from climate change, including more frequent extreme events that disrupt essential services to remote and regional communities, and damage to homes and cultural heritage sites. Additionally, rising sea levels, warmer temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are impacting health and wellbeing by reducing the availability and growth of plants used for food, medicines and fauna habitat.
Through their long-standing connection to Country, Aboriginal people possess extensive experience in responding to climate changes. Their cultural knowledge and adaptive strategies must inform climate change response. Aboriginal people must have an opportunity to lead climate action planning through their relationships with, and knowledge of, Country. First Nations climate resilience can be supported through empowerment of local decision-making and integration of local knowledge.
The following pages provide more useful information about collaborating with Aboriginal people to shape our climate change response:
