As we pass over a weekend of inspiring CancelCanada day events, ICA is continuing to dive into our work to decolonize climate policy and build power for Indigenous leadership in climate solutions.   We have been busy sharing the findings of our Decolonizing Climate Policy report with various networks, including a recent presentation at the Corporate Mapping Project online conference in late June. 

Earlier this month, Yellowhead Institute published a recent critique of Canadian climate policy with an overview from our executive director Eriel Deranger.  In the piece titled: Colonization caused climate change. Indigenous rights are the solutions, Eriel explains how insidious the colonial approach has been to creating climate policy, emphasizing the structural exclusion that has left Indigenous people out of critical conversations and strategies. Read more here.

In the coming days and months, we will be launching a specific webpage for this program and continuing to share updates on our efforts to address this structural exclusion and continue to interrupt the norms of white settler supremacy within the practices that are creating Canadian climate policy. Stay tuned for opportunities to provide your input on climate policy through surveys and interviews. Also an update on ICA’s concerns and hopes with the recently passed Bill C-12: Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act

TEASER:  One area we plan to focus more on is Nature Based Solutions and the complexity of valuing the immense power of ecosystems, watersheds and airsheds while keep a close eye on Corporations and Governments who seek to use this approach to entrench their own power. 

As stated by Eriel in her recent published piece: 

“Extractive and destructive industries are already relying on conservation offsets — “habitat restoration, creation of enhancements,” to “compensate” for negative or destructive impacts caused through “development” — another tool to buy their way out of impacts on Indigenous rights and culture. The combination of conservation offsets and nature-based solutions, both developed without Indigenous people or even safeguards for the rights of Indigenous peoples, allow for GHG emitting industries and governments to continue to skirt their obligations to respect our FPIC while promoting the appropriation of Indigenous lands and territories for the good of climate mitigation. 

Previous iterations of nature-based solutions programs, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) have exposed the dangers of these types of programs on Indigenous peoples and pave the way for a repeat of history that we witnessed during the creation of national parks and conservation areas in the early 1900s.”

Join us in this journey!

Email climatepolicy@indigenousclimateaction.com to sign up for our decolonizing policy updates to stay tuned for upcoming webinars (both in English & French)!

Also consider making a donation to support our efforts to engage with Indigenous community members and build capacity for decolonizing climate policy in so-called Canada.