Local minority languages and dialects, through the local knowledge and
expertise associated with them, can play major roles in analyzing
climate change and biodiversity loss, in facilitating community
awareness of environmental crises and in setting up locally-adapted
resilience and sustainability strategies. While the situation and
contribution of deeply-rooted Indigenous Peoples are of emblematic
importance, the issue of the relationships between cultural and
linguistic diversity and environmental awareness and protection does not
solely concern peripheral highly-specialized communities in specific
ecosystems of the Global South, but constitutes a worldwide challenge,
throughout all of the countries, whatever their geographical location,
their economical development, or their political status. Environmental
emergency and climate change resilience should therefore raise
international awareness on the need to promote the survival and
development of minority languages and dialects and to take into account
their creativity and expertise in relation with the dynamics of their
local environments.