The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday that the Biden administration will allocate more than $120 million to tribal governments to combat the impacts of climate change. The funding is intended to help tribal nations adapt to climate threats, including relocating infrastructure.
Native Americans are among the communities most affected by severe climate-related environmental threats that are already negatively impacting water resources, ecosystems, and traditional food sources for Native communities in every corner of the United States.
“As these communities face increasing threats from damage caused by rising sea levels, coastal erosion, storm surges, raging wildfires and other extreme weather events, our focus must be on building climate resilience and addressing it with urgency That reality and making sure tribal leaders have the resources to prepare and keep people safe are cornerstones of this administration,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo member, said at a news conference Wednesday indicated above.
According to Amnesty International, indigenous peoples make up 5% of the world’s population, but they protect 80% of the world’s biodiversity. In the United States, federal and state governments are relying more on the traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous peoples to minimize the damage of climate change, and Haaland said ensuring this trend continues is critical to protecting the environment.
“By providing tribes with these resources to plan and implement climate risk adaptation plans in their own communities, we can better meet the needs of each community and support them in incorporating Indigenous knowledge as they respond to climate change,” she said .
Assistant Secretary of the Interior Bryan Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community, said the department has adopted a policy that implements indigenous knowledge. “We are also investing in tribes’ ability to use their knowledge to address these issues and address challenges close to home,” he said.
Funding will come from President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which draws on the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and annual appropriations.
The funding is the largest annual amount awarded under the Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program, which was established in 2011 to help tribes and tribal organizations address climate change. It will be used in the planning and implementation of projects such as climate adaptation, community-led relocation, marine management and habitat restoration.
Tom Perez, a senior adviser to the president, said the infusion of federal funds is part of Biden’s pledge to work with tribal nations and underscores the administration’s recognition that the United States has left too many communities behind in the past. “We will not allow this to happen in the future,” he said.
In 2022, the administration committed $135 million to 11 tribal nations to relocate infrastructure facing climate threats such as wildfires, coastal erosion and extreme weather. According to a 2020 study by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it could cost up to $5 billion over the next 50 years to address climate-related relocation needs of tribal communities.
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