Hindou Ibrahim

Environmental activist and member of Chad’s pastoralist Mbororo community, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim began advocating for Indigenous rights and environmental protection at age 16, founding the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) to introduce new income revenue activities for women and collaborative tools such as 3D participatory mapping to build sustainable ecosystems management and reduction of nature-based resource conflicts. Her vision is to grow support for both traditional knowledge and science to improve resilience to climate change especially for rural communities. She is a member of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) and served as co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change during the historic UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris. She is dedicated to the protection of all Indigenous peoples, from the Congo to the Arctic, and the value of their knowledge in the fight against climate change. She advances environmental protection for Indigenous peoples by participating in international policy dialogues held around the three Rio Conventions; Climate Change (UNFCCC), Biodiversity (CBD), and Desertification (UNCCD) pressuring governments to recognize land rights of Indigenous peoples and advance their solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation. Ibrahim’s work with indigenous communities at the local and global level has achieved broad recognition and support including, the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award;, the 2020 Refugee International’s Refugees International Holbrooke Award; the Daniel Mitterrand Prize; appointment as a UN SDG Advocate, Conservation International Board Member and Lui-Walton Senior Fellow; Member of the EAT Advisory Board; named Ambassador of the EDEN Project; and National Geographic Explorer. She was recognized by BBC as a top 100 women leader and by TIME's Women Leaders in Climate Change. Hindou’s TED talk on Indigenous knowledge meets science to solve climate change has surpassed more than 1 million views. .

Raising awareness of the contribution Indigenous Peoples have been making for centuries to protect biodiversity. Building political will to integrate indigenous knowledge such as, natural climate solutions and living in harmony with nature, across business and political decisions to ensure a green recovery for all.

There is no vaccine for climate change, our best hope is recognizing the value of collaborative, science and nature-based approaches to solving critical global threats. Protecting nature is vital to the earth's ability to absorb CO2. 37% of the cost-effective carbon emissions reductions to meet the Paris Agreement can come from natural climate solutions of stopping deforestation, restoring degraded lands and better managing the way we use land. 23% of this critical carbon is under the management of Indigenous Peoples. A true green recovery cannot leave behind the communities connected to the very ecosystems we seek to protect.

climate adaptation and mitigation, climate change + biodiversity, UN and Indigenous Rights, gender ag

Scuba Diving despite the fact that I was raised in Chad, a landlocked country