<strong>Keywords:</strong> climate justice, community resilience, community development, climate risk reduction, extreme weather events, social capital, participatory governance, ecological economics, political ecology, ecofeminism, social learning, subsistence, resource governance, degrowth

Abstract: This paper discusses indigenous forms of conflict resolution, resource governance, asset redistribution, leadership and sharing in relation to degrowth, sustainability, commons, and ecofeminist theory as well as current environmental politics in North America. It highlights North American and global examples of traditional and new forms of “commons” which help to meet local subsistence needs and develop communities’ social, political and economic resilience in the face of climate change. Sustainably governed commons (which prevent open access by outsiders) make possible dynamic risk-reduction, addressing the shortcomings of both market and state-
oriented governance. The focus on equity and sustainability rather than growth is increasingly pressing as climate change threatens human subsistence worldwide. Indigenous traditions and leadership are central to the current political relevance of these (re-)emergent systems. Drawing on the literatures of ecological economics, political ecology, degrowth, indigenous law and politics, and ecofeminism as well as the work of Elinor Ostrom and Charlotte Hess to situate these ideas, this paper sets out a framework for assessing climate resilience from an equity standpoint, in terms of commons-readiness. From this perspective, climate justice – the local and global equity of climate change impacts and procedures – advances in parallel with the (re)establishment of sustainably - governed commons.