A/HRC/36/46 55. Article 7 (5) of the Paris Agreement provides: “Parties acknowledge that adaptation action should follow a country-driven, gender-responsive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems, and should be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, with a view to integrating adaptation into relevant socioeconomic and environmental policies and actions.” The recognition of these knowledge systems provides an important foundation for climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. 56. In the outcome document adopted at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, held in 2014, States explicitly confirm that indigenous peoples’ knowledge and strategies to sustain their environment should be respected and taken into account in developing national and international approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation. 28 57. In the Fifth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes that indigenous knowledge is challenged by climate change impacts and is often neglected in policy and research, and that its mutual recognition and integration with scientific knowledge will increase the effectiveness of adaptation strategies. 29 The Panel furthermore states that local and indigenous knowledge and diverse stakeholder interests, values and expectations are fundamental to building trust within climate change decisionmaking processes.30 58. In a positive development, the decision adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention at its twenty-first session accompanying the adoption of the Paris Agreement, which lays out the programme of work for the coming years, specifically recognizes the need to strengthen knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change, and to establish a platform for the exchange of experiences and sharing of best practices on mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner (see FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1, para. 135). 59. As noted by the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change, it is essential to respect the traditional knowledge that indigenous peoples bring to address issues relating to climate change, including causes, adaptation, mitigations and solutions. Indigenous peoples are committed to protect, use and apply traditional knowledge and practices to implement solutions and ways to adapt to climate change within indigenous communities. Climate change solutions cannot be limited to Western scientific knowledge, but must include indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge, innovations and practices, which have historically contributed to the efforts of conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.31 E. International cooperation 60. Under the Convention, industrialized States agree to support climate change activities in developing countries by providing financial support for action. The Convention acknowledges the vulnerability of all countries to the effects of climate change and calls for special efforts to ease the consequences, especially in developing countries that lack the resources to do so on their own. 32 61. International cooperation to promote and protect human rights lies at the heart of the Charter of the United Nations (see A/HRC/10/61, para. 85). The obligation to undertake such cooperation is explicitly affirmed in provisions of the Declaration, 33 the International 28 29 30 31 32 33 General Assembly resolution 69/2, para. 36. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2014, chap. 12, p. 758. Ibid., chap. 2, p. 198. See www.iipfcc.org/key-issues/. See http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/6036.php. Articles 39 and 41. 11