“Centring indigenous voices in the fight for climate justice”, 20 August 2025

216,000 barrels of oil a day will travel between between Uganda and Tanzania once the East African Crude Oil Pipeline is completed. The extracted oil will emit nearly 34m tonnes of CO2 annually, six times that of Uganda. Communities already living on the land fear the loss of natural resources, grazing lands, pristine habitats, homesteads, peace and prosperity, livelihoods, socio-cultural and spiritual traditions, health and family security. Among them are the Maasai of Kiteto, who face the loss of their homesteads, wet and dry season grazing areas, vegetation that prevents soil erosion and medicinal plants. In Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, environmental defenders and activists frequently face threats, harassment, intimidation and attacks of increasing gravity from state and non-state actors alike. Digital surveillance and misinformation targeting climate defenders is on the rise while access to justice is limited. This shrinking civic space stifles accountability and the possibility of inclusive, sustainable climate mitigation, since those most affected are excluded from decision making – though, ironically, indigenous knowledge is vital in climate adaptation – since indigenous peoples are stewards of much of the world’s biodiversity.

Environmental changes have particularly devastating implications for minorities and indigenous peoples in East Africa, since their livelihoods and cultures often depend on natural resources threatened by climate disaster, and since they are often socioeconomically marginalized. Yet despite this marginalization, indigenous peoples in East Africa are organizing, getting involved in climate action and using it to reclaim their overall rights and seek justice against abuses. We need to gather knowledge that will better allow minority or indigenous climate change defenders to advocate for effective climate action, hold governments accountable, and protect affected communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. To do so we’re implementing a participatory, interdisciplinary research programme with the Bagungu, Karamajong, Turkana, Rendile, Gabra, Samburu, Maasai and Barabaig communities in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, respectively. We took our research findings back to the communities from which they stem, to confirm their accuracy and relevance. The beauty of inclusive research is something you can only witness when you take the findings back to the same community, allowing them to confirm the views reflected in the findings… With every community, the validation process was unique, but each time we noted the importance of centring the community voice in the feedback sessions. While sitting with incredibly engaged Maasai women and men in Kiteto, Agnes couldn’t contain her excitement as she witnessed them articulate how the findings accurately mirrored their lived experiences – so significant for a community whose human rights defenders have been so targeted for advocating for their ancestral lands.

…Through these sessions, we gained firsthand experience and developed a deeper appreciation for the importance of inclusive and participatory research. Confirming the findings with the communities who contributed the information reassigns them power to contribute to policy decisions to address their problems. This results in empowered communities and sustainable policy decisions. We witnessed an approach that emphasizes mutual learning between researchers and community members and puts collaboration and shared ownership at the very core of the research process. While scientific rigour and the triangulation of data through expert validation are critical components of research, grounding the process in lived experience and incorporating the community’s voice into validation are essential. The validation process allows community members to verify findings against their lived experiences; if the research is not rooted in these experiences, it can undermine the legitimacy of the research process. The data collection and research process are inherently extractive, often involving the collection of data from communities without meaningful collaboration. This reinforces existing power imbalances and leads to research fatigue, as communities feel used rather than engaged. Vital perspectives are then missed out. In contrast, an inclusive approach to knowledge highlights perspectives and insights that are often overlooked and underrepresented.