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Indigenous people have interacted with climatic
variability and change in the Tropical Andes
Mountains over millenniums. In the process, people
have developed essential knowledge about the local
climate and environment (Melo Cevallos 2014; Llosa
Larrabure, et al., 2009). This knowledge is increasingly
acknowledged and included in policy instruments
and practices for adapting to climate change (Torres
et al., 2014). Peru’s ENCC states that actions should
be implemented with an intercultural perspective
that is appropriate to their indigenous populations’
collective rights. Colombia’s Joint Programme
for Ecosystem Integration and Adaptation to
Climate Change in the Colombian Massif aims to
generate adaptive capacity in rural and indigenous
communities by truly acknowledging these
populations as citizens with rights and knowledge,
respecting their way of life, and exchanging
experience (Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo
Sostenible, 2015). It is also relevant to emphasize
the changes brought about by COP20 which, by
increasing the number of stakeholders involved in
the process, included increasing the representation
from indigenous organizations in the discussion and
final agreements. The importance of strengthening
the knowledge of indigenous people on climate
change to facilitate adaptive capacity, in addition
to removing other barriers, such as discrimination
and poverty, was further stressed in the 2015 Paris
Agreement (UNFCCC, 2015).
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Indigenous people
Locals in a market in Pisac, Peru