Reclaiming Global Welfare: The Critical Role of Indigenous Legal Systems in Addressing Climate Change, Overconsumption, and Biodiversity Loss

Indigenous people are practitioners and inheritors of distinctive cultures, in which they have their own way of relating to the surroundings and the people. Indigenous people are known for their local wisdom and discrepancy in customary law. In contrast to the traditional cultures, the planet we call home keeps evolving, and so do complex issues around us. Humanity nowadays is no stranger to problems that are the cost of modernization such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and overconsumption. Studies and research never stop at one point to find a way to overcome those issues. There goes a saying ‘modern problem requires modern solution’, in lieu of the statement, the existence of indigenous people and their customary law have proven that they indeed have their own unique regulations to preserve nature and prevent overconsumption, which is what modern people need the most to reach the idea of sustainable living and development. For instance, people could reflect on the Dayak Kenyah Leppo’ Ke tribe in North Kalimantan, to find a solution to conquer our urgent global situation. In fact, Indigenous law communities can be included to participate in climate change and biodiversity loss. Empowerment of indigenous peoples with their local knowledge through environmental empowerment based on local wisdom can provide support, use and management of natural resources while maintaining the strength of their law, their spiritual abilities and the beliefs they embrace. The appliance of the indigenous law itself to solve climate and consumption issues might be the key to humanity and nature welfare for a lifetime. By delving into the law of the predecessors, we would be given an opportunity to analyze Indonesia's legal vacuum in terms of nature perseverance and fix the behavior of people living in the modern era in order to keep mother nature last longer