Sarah Mumbi Bisamunyu
Indigenous knowledge (IK) is increasingly recognized as essential for biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable resource management, providing proven solutions such as regenerative agriculture, water conservation systems, and community-led carbon sequestration. Despite its relevance, prevailing intellectual property (IP) regimes rooted in Western legal traditions remain poorly aligned with the collective, intergenerational, and evolving nature of Indigenous climate innovations. This chapter examines how existing international IP frameworks, including TRIPS, the Nagoya Protocol, and WIPO mechanisms, inadequately protect IK and enable persistent misappropriation and biopiracy. Drawing on qualitative case studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, alongside legal and policy analysis of global climate governance instruments such as the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC, the chapter identifies several critical findings. Current IP systems emphasize individual ownership, novelty, and time-limited protection, thereby excluding IK systems and weakening benefit-sharing arrangements. As a result, Indigenous climate solutions are frequently commercialized without consent or equitable returns to originating communities. The analysis further demonstrates that alternative governance models, including sui generis protections, recognition of customary law, and community-led documentation initiatives, provide viable mechanisms for safeguarding Indigenous innovations while supporting ethical collaboration. The chapter also finds that digital technologies, particularly blockchain and AI-based knowledge repositories, can enhance Indigenous control over documentation, monitoring, and commercialization of climate innovations. The chapter concludes that meaningful climate action requires urgent IP and policy reforms that embed IK as a foundational pillar of global sustainability and climate governance.