Indigenous people will be more severely affected by global climate change than other populations. Despite increasing awareness of these inequities, national and global responses to climate change often fail to address issues of specific concern to Indigenous peoples and tend to overlook the potential contribution of Indigenous knowledges. Indigenous peoples’ knowledges are based on holistic and interdependent understandings of the environment and have the potential to inform action towards climate transformation.
The aim of this research is to provide understanding on how mātauranga Māori (referred to hereafter as mātauranga), as an Indigenous knowledge system, can transform climate health outcomes. We will conduct a literature review to identify opportunities and challenges for including mātauranga to support climate health. Key informant interviews will take place with up to 10 participants with experience in relevant initiatives to explore their experiences, reflections and aspirations. The findings will help to develop understandings of how mātauranga can inform climate health action, which can provide valuable insights to support Indigenous-centred climate change mitigation and adaptation in Aotearoa. This will enable the ongoing work of Climate Health Aotearoa (CHA), a multi-Institutional research group, in the development and implementation of collaborative research with tangata whenua into climate health recovery.