Indigenous Peoples' rights in national climate governance: An analysis of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Although the recognition of Indigenous Peoples' contributions to climate governance by the international community has gradually increased, a rights-based approach in national climate action is still largely absent. This article analyses the recognition of Indigenous Peoples' rights in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. We conducted a content analysis of all NDCs submitted between 2016 and May 2022. Through a five-pronged framework of sustainable self-determination, we assessed how the NDCs recognise: i. Indigenous Peoples as rights-holders; ii. Indigenous jurisdiction over land; iii. Indigenous knowledge systems; iv. Indigenous Peoples' right to full and effective participation in climate governance; and v. the legacy of colonialism. NDCs with references related to Indigenous Peoples are increasing. However, questions remain regarding their sincerity and commitment to implementation. States must therefore make more significant efforts to ensure that the NDCs take a rights-based approach and contribute to strengthening Indigenous Peoples' role and say in climate governance.

Indigenous guardians as an emerging approach to indigenous environmental governance.

Over the past 3 decades, indigenous guardian programs (also known as indigenous rangers or watchmen) have emerged as an institution for indigenous governments to engage in collaborative environmental governance. Using a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature for research conducted in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa-New Zealand, and the United States, we sought to characterize the emergence of indigenous guardians in the literature and explore whether guardian approaches are representative of Indigenous approaches to environmental governance. Using a multistep relevance-screening method, we reviewed 83 articles published since 1995, that report on, critique, or comment on Indigenous guardians. Our findings indicated that most articles on the topic were published in the last decade (88%), focused on Australia (65%), and were in a social science discipline (53%). The lead author of the majority of articles was an academic, although only half of the articles included an indigenous scholar or member of an indigenous group or organization as a coauthor. Finally, 11 articles were on research of guardian programs that were locally led and only 5 exemplified indigenous governance, based on 2 well-known community-based monitoring typologies. Our findings indicate that more research is required to understand the implications of current guardian programs for indigenous self-determination, particularly when such programs are embedded in a broader western environmental governance structure.

Guardianes Indígenas como una Estrategia Emergente para la Administración Ambiental Indígena Resumen Durante las tres décadas más recientes, los programas de guardianes indígenas (también conocidos como guardias o vigilantes indígenas) han emergido como una institución para que las administraciones indígenas participen en la administración ambiental colaborativa. Mediante una revisión sistemática de la literatura revisada por pares de proyectos de investigación realizados en Australia, Canadá, Aotearoa-Nueva Zelanda y en los Estados Unidos buscamos caracterizar el surgimiento de los guardianes indígenas en la literatura y exploramos si las estrategias de guardianes son representativas de las estrategias indígenas para la administración ambiental. Usamos un método de filtración de relevancia con pasos múltiples para revisar 83 artículos publicados desde 1995; estos artículos reportan, critican o comentan sobre los guardianes indígenas. Nuestros hallazgos indicaron que la mayoría de los artículos dedicados a este tema fue publicada en la última década (88%), está enfocada en Australia (65%) y está dedicada a una disciplina de las ciencias sociales (53%). El autor principal de la mayoría de los artículos fue un académico, aunque sólo la mitad de los artículos incluía a un investigador indígena o a un miembro de un grupo u organización indígena como coautor. Finalmente, once artículos investigaron los programas de guardianes liderados localmente y solamente cinco artículos ejemplifican la administración indígena con base en dos tipologías populares de monitoreo basadas en la comunidad. Nuestros hallazgos indican que se requiere una mayor investigación para entender las implicaciones de los programas de guardianes para la autodeterminación indígena, particularmente cuando dichos programas están arraigados en una estructura de administración ambiental occidental más generalizada.