SUBMISSION: CULTURAL RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

This submission by Natural Justice to the UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights details the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples and local communities in Africa. It highlights how environmental shifts and land-use changes threaten bio-cultural resources and traditional knowledge, while presenting 'Community Protocols' as a tool for adaptation and the protection of cultural rights. The document also outlines the severe risks faced by cultural and environmental rights defenders in Africa, including violence, criminalization, and land grabbing.

• Climate change and external pressures threaten Indigenous peoples' and local communities' conserved territories and areas (ICCAs) and sacred natural sites in Africa. These areas are vital for maintaining cultural identity and spiritual connections, but they face internal threats from the erosion of local languages and traditional learning, as well as external threats from exploitation that ignores customary rules.
• Pastoralist communities in sub-Saharan Africa are uniquely vulnerable to climate change due to rainfall variability and extreme weather events. In Kenya, this vulnerability is compounded by the government acquiring traditional grazing lands for conservation, roads, renewable energy, and large development projects, which, alongside drought and flood cycles, has forced many to abandon their traditional way of life.
• Traditional knowledge and customary rules are being used as adaptation strategies in Madagascar. Farmers in Analavory use 'Dina' (unwritten customary rules) to combat bushfires and employ traditional knowledge of seed selection to maintain production. They have established a community seed bank to conserve local varieties, such as the Rojo Mena rice, which is central to their cultural identity.
• Community Protocols serve as legal and communication tools for indigenous and local communities to articulate their values, traditional knowledge, and land ties. In South Africa's Cederberg region, Khoikhoi and San farmers used a community protocol to manage free prior informed consent regarding rooibos, establishing the plant as a customary resource rather than just a commodity.
• Cultural and environmental rights defenders in Africa face systemic risks, including physical violence, extrajudicial killings, and harassment. Specific examples include the forced eviction of the Sengwer indigenous group from the Embobout Forest by the Kenya Forest Service and death threats against members of the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) in the Mau Forest Complex.
• Governments in Africa are using legislative tools to criminalize activism and facilitate land acquisition. In Kenya, the Land Value (Amendment) Act allows the state to take possession of land before compensation, using a market value approach that ignores cultural and traditional values. Additionally, amendments to the Public Order Act have been used to hold peaceful demonstration organizers strictly liable for violence they did not cause.

APA

Natural Justice (2020). SUBMISSION: CULTURAL RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Natural-Justice-Submission-Climate-Change-and-Cultural-Rights-1-May-2020.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. SUBMISSION: CULTURAL RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE. 2020. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Natural-Justice-Submission-Climate-Change-and-Cultural-Rights-1-May-2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Natural Justice |title=SUBMISSION: CULTURAL RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE |date=1 May 2020 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Natural-Justice-Submission-Climate-Change-and-Cultural-Rights-1-May-2020.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{naturaljustice2020submission, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{SUBMISSION: CULTURAL RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE}}, publisher = {Natural Justice}, year = {2020}, month = may, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Natural-Justice-Submission-Climate-Change-and-Cultural-Rights-1-May-2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }