Indigenous Groups Join UN to Strategize Climate Mitigation Plan

Centuries of knowledge and Indigenous customs will pass from communities to the world after an accord was formed with the United Nations during the Climate Summit (COP24) Monday.

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Fourteen communities make up the members of the Platform of Local Communities which will work with local governments, relying on ancient techniques to overturn the turbulent climate changes rocking the world within the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"Indigenous peoples are not only among the most vulnerable to climate change, but also have many of the solutions to adapt to climate change," the U.N. said.

Representing only 5 percent of the global population, native communities protect 80 percent of earth’s biodiversity, the U.N. said, arguing that the world needs their perspective to confront climate change.

One Indigenous representative told EFE, "When indigenous peoples first heard about the United Nations climate policy in 1997, we had the dream of working together with the States, something that has become a reality with this platform today.”

The U.N. holds the utmost confidence in the “historic” union between the Indigenous communities and governments to find a resolution to the world’s sustainability and ensure no one is left behind, a statement from the international organization said.

The world is currently on course to significantly overstretch the limits for global warming that had been agreed upon in the landmark 2015 Paris Accord on climate change. The accord had intended to prevent further extreme weather, rising sea levels and the loss of ecosystems, including species of plants and animals.