The Decolonizing Climate Policy Project

The Decolonizing Climate Policy Project

Written on 06 November 2024. Posted in News

BY INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION FOR DEBATES INDÍGENAS

Climate change's roots are deeply entwined with colonialism's legacy. As its devastating effects increasingly target Indigenous communities, we face an urgent imperative: to decolonize climate policy and amplify Indigenous-led solutions. This shift is not just ethical but essential, recognizing that those most affected often possess invaluable knowledge for addressing the crisis. By empowering Indigenous voices and traditional ecological wisdom, we can forge more equitable, effective responses to our shared environmental challenges.

Colonial states still hold a majority of power over Indigenous populations, their lands and territories. As a result, Indigenous rights to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), along with the respect and honoring of existing treaty agreements, are often neglected. Accordingly, Indigenous Peoples continue to be categorized as stakeholders to be consulted within the development of colonial laws, legislation and policies that impact (negatively and positively) the lives and rights of Indigenous Peoples rather than being afforded the resources and capacities to affirm their traditional laws, governance and practices.

In this article, we write from the perspective of Indigenous-led climate policy frameworks in Canada, and we recognize that much of our global representation has to do with our assimilation into Western systems and greater visibility in international arenas. North American colonial states are often regarded as the model for upholding Indigenous rights and environmental stewardship, while research shows a stark contrast between perception and reality. In fact, Canada is failing to protect both the environment and Indigenous rights while simultaneously contributing to the advancement of economic growth and the colonial empire.

By upholding North American Indigenous Peoples as the benchmark, it welcomes the idea that Western imperialism is an acceptable model towards the progress of Indigenous rights. It is not. At Indigenous Climate Action (ICA), we stand in opposition to the narrative that Indigenous Peoples can and should be absorbed into these colonial systems, as opposed to recognizing Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination through the revitalization of their own governance systems. Rather than absorbing Indigenous Peoples into these colonial frameworks, it is critical to uplift Indigenous solutions and governance models.

The Decolonizing Climate Policy research project responds to this need by investigating the shortcomings and problems associated with Canadian climate policy while supporting and developing Indigenous-led climate strategies - governance approaches created by and for Indigenous Peoples that will raise up and empower Indigenous-led solutions.

COP 27 in Glasgow. Restitution of lands is a critical step in the decolonization of climate policy. Photo: ICA

Barriers to participation
Colonialism has severed many Indigenous Peoples from their traditional territories and knowledge systems, making it harder for communities to practice sustainable land stewardship. The report from Phase One of Decolonizing Climate Policy investigated Canada's climate policy and planning frameworks. Our analysis focused on two previous federal climate plans: the Pan Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change (PCF), and A Healthy Environment and Healthy Economy (HEHE). It aimed to determine whether these plans, and climate policy and planning in Canada more broadly, meaningfully include Indigenous rights, knowledge and approaches in addressing the root causes of the climate crisis.

What we found is that both the process by which the plans were developed and the proposed policies and actions contained within them are flawed in their efficacy for driving real action, the ability to drive a just transition, and the relationships between Canada and Indigenous Peoples. While both the PCF and the HEHE plans frequently reference the role of Indigenous Peoples in addressing the climate crisis, there was no indication of meaningful inclusion in the development of these plans. Our findings indicate that Indigenous Peoples were structurally excluded from the process of developing them, violating their rights to self-determination and FPIC, as recognized and affirmed within Canadian and international law.

Furthermore, some of the solutions promoted in these plans ignore the realities faced by Indigenous Peoples and overlook the structural inequalities continuously reproduced through colonial relations and oppressive structures in Canada. The report outlines the barriers to Indigenous-led climate policy, such as forced disconnection from the land, the devaluation of Indigenous knowledge, and systemic exclusion from policy-making processes. To make matters worse, some of the proposed actions and initiatives in these plans risk negative impacts on Indigenous Peoples and violations of Indigenous rights.

This is observed by the Indigenous activist and scholar Tamra Gilbertson in Decolonizing Climate Policy in Canada (2021): "Indigenous Peoples were kept off the working group tables deliberately so they would not impact the politics of keeping fossil fuels coming out of the ground by implementing carbon pricing...Keeping Indigenous Peoples off the working group tables and treating Indigenous Peoples as stakeholders is a violation of national and international law. This gross violation impacts Indigenous sovereignty and blatantly clarifies the intent to reduce Indigenous Peoples to stakeholders in an attempt to coerce and strong-arm participation in order to push through carbon pricing systems and other mechanisms that can violate land rights and sovereignty."

Demonstration on the streets during COP 16 in Montreal. Photo: ICA

The reproduction of colonialism by climate policy

By highlighting the ways in which settler-led climate policy upholds colonial structures and excludes Indigenous governance systems, we established the importance of including Indigenous perspectives in climate policy-making - it must prioritize reciprocal relationships with the land and all living beings. These elements of Indigenous relationality are often ignored or overridden by settler policies that prioritize economic gain over environmental and cultural sustainability.

From the report, it becomes clear that colonial policies restrict access to traditional lands, impede cultural practices, and limit the ability to pass down knowledge to future generations. There is a call for decolonizing these systems and reasserting Indigenous governance and protocols as the foundation for climate policy.

It is worth noting that this sentiment of structural exclusion of Indigenous Peoples from the development and advancement of laws, policies and legislation in the Canadian context is mirrored globally. This was stated by the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) in a statement at COP26, Glasgow: "Indigenous Peoples are affected first and worst by climate change and colonial climate action, yet we drive critical climate solutions rooted in our relationships with the living world. In exercising our protection on the frontlines, we face criminalization, human rights violations, and assassination. And in the COPs, we are excluded from decision making on issues that affect us the most."

The call for colonial bodies to uplift and uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the naming of colonialism as a root cause of climate change and Indigenous subjugation are repeated by various groups, among them the IIPFCC: "COP26 and future COPs must ensure the participation of Indigenous Peoples, including those of us with multiple intersections of identity. Colonialism caused climate change. Our Rights and Traditional Knowledge are the solution."

As the recognition of Indigenous Peoples continues to grow and expand, there is a concerted effort to contextualize what this means beyond words and empty promises and to drive forward a decolonial framework for Indigenous Peoples across the world.

Claims for environmental justice converge with historical demands for territorial restitution. Photo: ICA

Indigenous rights are the solution
For many Indigenous Peoples, the impacts of climate change began at first contact. The process of colonization, in which Indigenous lands were stolen and ecosystems disrupted, laid the groundwork for the climate crisis we are seeing today. Yet, it is the inherent rights and ways of life of Indigenous Peoples that offer critical solutions to combating climate change. Despite this, there still remains a heavy reliance on colonial science and governance to drive the strategies for achieving climate stabilization.

In the report Decolonizing Climate Policy in Canada, ICA Executive Director, Dënesųłine, from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation | Boreal Forest Biome, Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, explains it as follows: "A lot of the colonial policies are very human-centric and about upholding universal human rights and freedoms to the individual. Ultimately, if we don't have species, and relationships on the land to support thriving communities, and cultures and nations, then those policies are just simply words on paper."

This truth highlights the necessity of reinvigorating, practicing and sharing the long-held traditions of land stewardship that Indigenous Peoples have maintained since time immemorial. Phase Two of Decolonizing Climate Policy was launched to better understand the priorities, needs and visions for the future towards addressing the climate crisis. The responses underscored a key message: Indigenous knowledge and governance must be at the heart of climate action. This sentiment is echoed globally, where Indigenous Peoples have repeatedly called for inclusion to be created in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes.

COP 28 in Dubai. The Indigenous Peoples Pavilion is a fundamental platform to bring visibility to their climate proposals. Photo: ICA

Impacts on Indigenous communities

Temperature measurements across Canada show that we are experiencing warming at twice the global rate. Between 1948 and 1916, mean temperatures increased by 1.7°C for all of Canada and 2.3°C in the North, with the number of very hot days tripling over this period. During our conversations, many Indigenous Peoples shared how they are experiencing the impacts of climate change first-hand. Twenty-five percent of the people we spoke to reported observing extreme weather events, such as storms and droughts. Others noted that the weather is becoming warmer and drier, and with noticeable shifts in the seasons.

Water quality emerged as a big concern, with one-third of participants expressing worries about reduced snowpack, decreased availability of freshwater, and water contamination (for example, by hydro dams). These disruptions to water systems affect wildlife, generate loss of vegetation, and reduce water life populations, impacting entire ecosystems and food security for communities (especially access to traditional hunting and gathering practices).

As Hanna Paul of the Métis Nation of Alberta (Boreal Forest Biome) shared: "Flooding and fires have devastated my community and climate change has a massive hand in that. It's impacted trap lines, hunting, and harvesting." These events not only disrupt day-to-day life but they also make it harder for people to get out onto the land and hunt, pick berries, and harvest medicines. Climate change is also threatening the health and safety of Indigenous communities in several ways. Changes in water levels are making it harder to travel in and out of island communities, and severe weather is causing the erosion of roadings, posing major safety concerns.

The impacts of climate change on our water, housing, health, and access to food are compounding pre-existing challenges in our communities, including food insecurity, access to healthcare services, and beyond. Overall, this is affecting the mental, physical and spiritual health of many communities.

The historic claims resonated during the COP 28 negotiations in Dubai. Photo: ICA

Looking forward: an Indigenous-led climate policy

Every day, Indigenous youth embody what it means to decolonize climate policy, exercising their rights and asserting themselves as leaders in climate action. They are hopeful for the future, emphasizing the need to center their voices in climate conversations and the potential they have to challenge current systems. They want to restore their connection to land and water as inherent in climate policy.

Indigenous youth stories contain teachings about our connections to plants, waters and animals. These instructions and responsibilities are not merely cultural customs or views: they are our laws and have never been extinguished. The youth also share what climate policy could look like if it were led by Indigenous Peoples and rooted in our worldviews, laws, governance systems and relationships with the land and its transformative potential for all.

Phase Two concludes with concrete ways to shift political and economic systems in order to weaken the grasp of colonial control and make space for Indigenous land-based solutions to emerge, take hold and flourish, and build new economic and political systems. A decolonized approach to climate policy must empower communities to draw from their ancestral knowledge to develop laws that support their cultural survival and thrivance. This approach counters the notion of a blanketed "Indigenous policy", instead recognizing the need for policies that respect the diverse governance systems, knowledge, and contributions of each Nation.

Decolonizing Climate Policy means policy created by and for Indigenous Peoples that works towards the advancement and uplifting of our rights, knowledge and perspectives. It means demanding the inclusion of Indigenous voices in aspects, and all levels, of climate policy-making and suggests that current policies must be reimagined to respect Indigenous sovereignty and prioritize relationships with the land. It is critical to ensuring that just climate solutions are brought forward to address the legacy of harm caused by colonization and the climate crisis. Decolonization is not a responsibility meant to be held just by Indigenous Peoples, it is an effort that requires joint collaboration.

Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) is an Indigenous-led organization guided by a diverse group of knowledge keepers, water protectors and land defenders from communities and regions across the country. We believe Indigenous Peoples' rights and knowledge systems are essential to developing solutions to the climate crisis and achieving climate justice.

Cover photo: Press conference at UNFCCC COP 28, Dubai, 2023. Photo: ICA

Tags: Indigenous Debates

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