Risk Without Values: Including Indigenous Perspectives in Climate Risk Assessments

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Climate Change Adaptation
• Indigenous Studies

Background:

• Climate risk assessments (CRAs) increasingly recognize Indigenous communities' vulnerability to climate change.
• However, these assessments often overlook distinct Indigenous perspectives on risk and adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the representation of Indigenous perspectives, values, and worldviews in CRAs submitted by international cities to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
• To assess whether Indigenous knowledge is integrated into dominant frameworks or recognized as alternative risk framings.

Main Methods:

• Thematic review of self-submitted CRAs to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
• Analysis focused on the representation of Indigenous perspectives, values, and worldviews within these assessments.

Main Results:

• While many CRAs acknowledged unequal exposure, few addressed structural inequities or diverse conceptualizations of risk.
• Indigenous knowledge and sociocultural dimensions were often subsumed within technocratic frameworks, not treated as alternative framings.
• Indigenous perspectives were translated into existing institutional paradigms rather than shaping assessment foundations.

Conclusions:

• Procedural inclusion of Indigenous communities in CRAs is insufficient for meaningful engagement.
• Effective climate risk frameworks must accommodate relational, place-based, and Indigenous understandings of risk.
• Existing models need to be adapted to genuinely incorporate, rather than subsume, Indigenous worldviews.