Indigenous knowledge in climate adaptation in Bangladesh: International Climate law perspectives

Bangladesh is home to a diverse group of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) who hold extremely important knowledge that could help in climate adaptation. IPs in Bangladesh suffer from multifaceted discrimination, oppression and abuse. The Government of Bangladesh remains blindfolded about it by not even recognising them as IPs and by not becoming a party to either United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights or the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (ILO 169). The government, however, has obligations to facilitate Indigenous Peoples’ right to participation by virtue of being a party to the Rio Declaration, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Paris Agreement. In this chapter, I documented how Indigenous Knowledge (IK) has been used in adaptation to adverse impacts of climate change. IPs should have a say in climate decision-making as they are facing the worst impacts of climate change being located in most climate-vulnerable areas of the country. IPs should have the right to participate in climate decision-making not only as victims but also because of having agency being knowledge holders of climate adaptation. The Government of Bangladesh published the National Adaptation Plan in 2022, wherein it states that IK is acknowledged as important for adaptation, and IPs would be consulted for climate decision-making. Proper implementation of the laws and policies in place would enable Indigenous Peoples (IPs) to exercise their right to participation, as analysed in this chapter.