Join ICA team members Jayce Chiblow, Rebecca Sinclair, Jacob Crane and moderator Eriel Deranger as they walk through the report together.

This past week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its 6th report aptly named Sixth Assessment Report: Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability. This report is made up of an international body that assesses western climate change science. The report is offered to governments highlighting the baselines for mitigation. Some key surprising key findings are: 

• The report indicated that the Climate Crisis is a Health Crisis.  

• Climate Justice is Social Justice. The climate crisis is inherently tied to the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples, marginalized peoples. 

Climate inaction is a direct threat to  our Indigenous communities, cultures, and lands. It is urgent that the Canadian government and global leaders recognize the need for Indigenous and local knowledge at the forefront is the solution to the climate crisis if our communities are to survive and thrive. As we have said before, it is well-known that Indigenous Peoples all across the world are impacted the most by climate chaos, and yet, we are the least responsible. Our communities make up less than 6% of the world's population, and yet Indigenous Peoples protect 80% of global biodiversity. We have always fought extractive industries that continue to invade our land for capitalist ventures, like fossil fuel extraction, pipeline expansion, and old growth logging––all of which cause and exacerbate climate change.

The report highlights the urgency of the climate crisis and its impacts, while still missing the mark on real lived experiences to drive forward equitable solutions.

Our team took some time to really discuss what the implications of the IPCC report had on our communities, minds and hearts and offer a peek into the work we are doing that uplifts the voices of Indigenous people across so-called Canada. We drew on our own experiences as Indigenous people and discussed how climate change has affected our communities and the land in which we grew up on, learned from and honour. 

It’s generally accepted in this day and age that Indigenous knowledge systems are vital in finding real solutions to mitigate climate change. Though people are still grappling with this idea on how to implement these solutions into areas like policy and just transition. Much of this delay in implementation really speaks at the heart of the exclusion of Indigenous folx at the decision making tables. To that end, we are reduced to the side lines and consultation. We are brought in as guests and not, as Jacob Crane would say, “driving the car.”

There is an urgency needed, as reiterated in the IPCC report, and often our Indigenous brothers and sisters are left behind because “there is just no time” to figure out how to implement our ways of knowing and being into their idea of solutions. This is the excuse. This is a colonial narrative that continues to take and maintain the status quo. 

Science can only take us so far. It is vastly limited in relational understanding and in holistic understanding. It has not been vetted in our Indigenous processes that are centuries old and are carried through our blood memory, oral history and ceremonies. Indigenous knowledge is cheaply integrated, bastardized and taken from us.

Indigenous peoples have rich generational knowledge of the land that has huge capital in understanding what Mother Earth needs to heal. Our ways of knowing require a mind-shift in people's relationship with the land. Real solutions can only come with that mindshift and it takes us, Indigenous folx, driving the car of change to see real results. Solutions are ensuring that Indigenous peoples are not just regulated as caretakers, but have the vast knowledge in reform and can contribute in all areas.

The IPCC report highlighted the struggles we face as human citizens of the Earth. It addressed the inequity of impacts and it painted a stark gloomy picture of the future. We are all feeling, though not equally, the impacts of climate change. We cannot ignore or deny the very real effects of extreme temperatures, floods, fires, melts, and health. It begs the questions, how do we look to the future in a positive way? How do we mitigate the fear and anxiety we feel?

We start now, we change our relationship with the land and water. We commit to learning how we are a part of and not the owners, we teach our young people respect and responsibility. We advocate on Mother Earth’s behalf. We call on our leaders for inclusive change, to give up the power and imbalance and lift up the sovereignty of Indigenous people.  And we just do the best we can with the time we are gifted on this wonderful Earth. This is at the heart of Indigenous worldview.

What is Indigenous Climate Action doing?

ICA is working to ensure a liveable and sustainable future for all. Indigenous knowledge and ways of being are the solution to a just future and the well-being of Mother Earth through:

• Calling out false solutions.

• Trying to secure a seat at the table for Indigenous solutions.

• Supporting Indigenous actions against pipelines.

• Networking with NDN Collective, Indigenous Environmental Network, Keepers of the Water, RedTide, Camp Morning Star,  and many more.

• Building and offering programs that centre Indigenous Knowledge and ways of being in community-led climate change.

We know addressing the climate crisis in a real way is going to take transformative change!  Now more than ever we need to be organizing for climate justice with strategies that uplift the wisdom and strengths of Indigenous peoples. Join us with a small donation and let’s work together on a future for real climate solutions!