The influence of indigenous peoples in global climate governance

To what extent do Indigenous Peoples exert influence over global climate decision-making processes? Recent studies observe the increased presence and influence of Indigenous Peoples over climate negotiations while also recognizing the limits of their political influence. For instance, Indigenous Peoples successfully advocated state parties to include language in the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that recognized their role in designing, adopting, and implementing climate change policies. Yet, activists continue to push for broader participation of Indigenous Peoples in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conferences. This article reviews the state of knowledge on the political impact of Indigenous Peoples in spaces of global climate governance and the mechanisms by which Indigenous Peoples exert political influence. This review identifies three prominent debates on the question of the influence of Indigenous Peoples in global climate governance: (1) What constitutes Indigenous Peoples political influence over global climate governance, (2) the extent to which Indigenous Peoples exert it, and (3) whether the political influence of Indigenous Peoples over global climate governance is enough to stop climate regimes from harming them.