Rising Tides: How indigenous communities are facing the climate crisis

Sep 4, 2025

Guest

Parnuna Egede Dahl

Guest

Guests like Andrew Higham, a former UNFCCC Senior Advisor, Lysa Wini from the Solomon Islands, Haida leader Wáahlaal Gidaag from Alaska, and Parnuna Egede Dahl from Greenland share poignant stories of indigenous resilience against climate change. Lysa highlights ancestral island-building methods while confronting rising seas. Wáahlaal reflects on intergenerational wisdom connecting land and sea, sparked by her son's curiosity. Parnuna discusses Greenland's governance and its crucial Paris Agreement decision, urging us to heed lessons from those on the climate front lines.

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ANECDOTE

Building Islands Stone By Stone

Lysa Wini recounts her people's practice of literally building islands stone by stone over centuries to live in lagoons.
Her community still raises island height and rebuilds reefs as tidal patterns worsen due to sea-level rise.

ANECDOTE

Centuries Of Ocean Spatial Planning

Lysa explains indigenous ocean spatial planning existed for centuries long before Western maps arrived.
Islanders observe tides and physically raise island level by carrying rocks up to two meters to adapt.

INSIGHT

Mangroves As Multi‑Benefit Defenses

Mangroves act as natural coastal defenses, bind sediment and support fisheries while storing carbon.
Insurance and climate adaptation strategies should value mangrove restoration for multiple benefits.

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What does it mean to live on the front lines of climate change - where rising seas, collapsing ecosystems and the legacies of colonialism collide?

This week, Christiana Figueres and Paul Dickinson are joined by guest host Andrew Higham (Founder of the Future of Climate Cooperation, and former UNFCCC Senior Advisor), to hear from three remarkable people from across the Solomon Islands, Alaska and Greenland. Their stories serve as a stark warning of the ways climate change is reshaping lives, identities and politics. How centuries-old knowledge offers resilience and guidance the world cannot afford to ignore.

How do you build an island? Indigenous Knowledge Advocate Lysa Wini describes how her Solomon Islands ancestors literally created their islands from coral and rock. How are their successors responding, now that rising oceans threaten their homes?

Wáahlaal Gidaag, Haida leader from Alaska and VP of Arctic Conservation at Ocean Conservancy, shares how her son’s questions are drawing her back to ancestral ways of seeing land and sea.

And Parnuna Egede Dahl, Special Advisor with Oceans North Kalaallit Nunaat in Greenland, explains how self-rule intersects with ocean governance, and what Greenland’s decision to join the Paris Agreement means for the future.

Their experiences challenge us to look beyond negotiations and policy texts, and ask: what can we learn from those who have always been on climate’s front lines? And how can we work together to protect the planet on which we all depend?

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Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks

Video Producer: Caitlin Hanrahan

Assistant Producer: Caillin McDaid

Assistant Producer: Eve Jones

Exec Producer: Ellie Clifford

Commissioning Editor: Sarah Thomas

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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