Ruth Buendía

Indigenous climate leader shaping global environmental policies through traditional knowledge integration

Amazonian Advocate

Ruth Buendía (b. 1957) is a Peruvian Asháninka leader and anthropologist whose work bridges indigenous knowledge with climate science. As Vice-Chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2020-2023, she ensured ancestral environmental practices were included in landmark reports. Her IPCC contributions highlighted how indigenous land management reduces deforestation by up to 60% in Amazon regions.

Innovative Frameworks

Buendía co-created the Indigenous Climate Action Network (2021), training over 3,000 youth in 20+ countries to document traditional ecological knowledge digitally. Her Nature magazine article on fire management practices won the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize.

Global Influence

At COP26, Buendía spearheaded the 'Amazonia Declaration' signed by 8 countries, protecting 400 million hectares of rainforest. Her advocacy for recognizing indigenous territories as carbon sinks influenced the EU's 2023 Green Deal revisions. Buendía's legacy lies in proving how ancestral wisdom can solve modern ecological crises.