The framing of Indigenous and local ecological knowledge amidst climate change education in the COP27 cyberspace

Abstract

We explore representations of Indigenous and local ecological knowledge (IEK/LEK) within the cyberspace of COP27 through a digital ethnography of the UNESCO-UNFCCC Webinar Series organized to supplement the in-person meetings that took place in Egypt. Through frame analysis and an accounting of UNFCCC literature on knowledge produced by Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), we argue that while the UN’s efforts toward inclusivity are valuable, this webinar demonstrates the significant shortcomings of international climate governance’s engagement with IEK and LEK. Digital spaces surrounding global climate governance represent a contradictory dualism for Indigenous and at-risk communities, as these spaces both provide an outlet for decentralized climate activism and a method of co-optation by neoliberal forces orbiting the UN system. We argue that meaningful changes are necessary in the digital approaches of the UNFCCC and UNESCO to climate change education and epistemic inclusivity to account for the place-based, localized impacts of global climate governance. The changes should reflect the diversity of IEK and LEK forms, give agency to IPLCs to determine whether to share climate information, and must include adequate representation from affected communities.