Pope Francis: Indigenous ‘ancestral wisdom’ a vital tool in fight against climate change

Pope Francis meets with participants of the conference “Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge and the Sciences,” sponsored by the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, held at the Vatican from March 14–15, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Mar 15, 2024 / 10:20 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Thursday reflected on the importance of holding up Indigenous voices and incorporating “ancestral wisdom” as part of broader efforts to mitigate the effects of anthropogenic climate change.

“Open dialogue between Indigenous knowledge and the sciences, between communities of ancestral wisdom and those of the sciences, can help to confront in a new, more integral and more effective way such crucial issues as water, climate change, hunger, and biodiversity,” the pope observed at the Vatican on Thursday. ‘“These issues, as we know very well, are all interconnected.”

The remarks were addressed to participants of the conference “Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge and the Sciences,” sponsored by the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, held at the Vatican from March 14–15. 

This event brings together a plurality of voices from the pontifical academies, Indigenous groups, academics, and international organizations in order to evaluate how traditional Indigenous teachings and methodologies can be harmonized with conventional science to inform global policy on climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, and health.

According to the United Nations, Indigenous people are defined as those who “inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived” and retain distinct “social, cultural, economic, and political characteristics” from their native societies. 

“The Church is with you, an ally of the Indigenous peoples and their wisdom, and an ally of science in striving to make our world one of ever greater fraternity and social friendship,” the pope said on Thursday. 

In the address, Francis pointed to a 2021 study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that examined both Indigenous food systems and the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge as a core component of the United Nations’ 2024–2033 “International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (IDSSD).”

The pope cited these as two concrete examples of how Indigenous representation has been developed on the international stage. 

The pope stressed the importance of protecting Indigenous “cultures, traditions, spiritualities, and languages” as they form part of the “fabric of humanity,” and their loss would “represent an impoverishment of knowledge, identity, and memory for all of us.”

“For this reason,” the pope continued, “projects of scientific research, and accordingly investments, ought to be directed decisively to the promotion of human fraternity, justice, and peace, so that resources can be coordinated and allocated to respond to the urgent challenges facing the earth, our common home, and the family of peoples.”

The themes of ecological protection and human fraternity have been featured prominently in Francis’ pontificate. 

In his seminal 2015 encyclical on climate Laudato Si’, Pope Francis emphasized the urgency of incorporating Indigenous voices in the broader discussion on climate change mitigation, noting those individuals “are not merely one minority among others, but should be the principal dialogue partners, especially when large projects affecting their land are proposed.” 

According to the United Nations Development Program, the global Indigenous population sits at 370 million people — or 5% of the worldwide population — and is among the most vulnerable groups to the effects of anthropogenic climate change and its associated risks such as desertification, food scarcity, biodiversity loss, and forced migration.