Leaders from around the world work together to combat climate disruption

We already have the knowledge and know-how to combat climate breakdown – we must just learn to listen!

Around the world, indigenous people have lived on their land and been connected to it for thousands of years. They have always lived there happily by not taking too much and respecting their environment. Unfortunately, in the past, their land has been taken away from them by westerners and they haven’t been able to look after it in the way that they wanted. Often, it has been used for farming, mining and building towns and cities which has destroyed the habitats and natural ecosystems that were once there.

Many people say that the main reason that global warming is happening, and other man-made disasters such as pollution and disease, is because we have forgotten that we are all connected to the Earth and that the most important thing we need to do to be happy and thrive is to respect and cherish our natural environment.

Now, indigenous people around the world are taking a stand and explaining what the connection is and helping us to restore the planet to the way it should be.

Last month, at the Leader’s Summit on Climate, Indigenous people’s leaders such as Archana Soreng from India and Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim from Chad in Africa stood up for their people’s rights, beliefs and traditional way of life and explained they needed their original homelands to be recognised and handed back to them so that they can continue to take care of it properly and lead the way to restoring our connection with nature.

Let’s hope that the world’s leaders agreed with them and will work hard to include them in future discussions to learn the best way to tackle the big problem of climate change.

This news is a wonderful way to celebrate diversity and understand that we must listen to everyone to find a better way of life in the future; one where we all connect with and look after our planet.

Talking point: Can you think of examples of indigenous tribes from around the world? What do you know about them and how do they differ? How are they the same?

Indigenous = people who have always occupied the land before westerners came and claimed it for themselves